Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
ONE HELLUVA WEEKEND IN MANILVA.
MONDAY 12TH APRIL 2010.
On Friday morning we went down to the supermarket for the weekend shopping and at the same time picked up the two Legs of Lamb from the English butchers; the weather at the moment is OK but with a little wind it can get a bit crisp in the evening, the village is back to it’s normal tranquil self as we settle back into life in Manilva. In the evening we had for supper Baked Soles which we picked up at the fish market in the village earlier in the week with some local new potatoes and garden peas.
As we got up on Saturday morning we decided to go for a walk around the village to see what had been going on; the work on the new Wine Center is coming along, at the moment the electricians are finishing off; a couple of new little shops have opened, small general stores which open all hours, the work on the church which seems to go on for ever, but you can’t see any difference and at the top of the main street they have knocked down some old buildings and widened the corner, which was very dangerous, and at the same time they are putting in a small water feature. We ended up down at the sports hall and watched the under 12s girls basketball, they are very committed and play on the full size court, sorry to say that Manilva got beat! We then strolled across to the football ground and watched the seven a side football, two matches take place at the same time, across the main pitch, they are local teams from the bars and business’s in the area and the football is very exciting as it is played from end to end, Afterwards we then walked down to Mano and Ann’s house at the other end of the village, past the house’s that collapsed after the storms, we caught up with all the village gossip and made arrangements for our Sunday lunch; Anna calls in all the time to our house so we exchange books and so on.
When we got back we could not watch the Grand National, as we don’t have English TV, so I followed it on BBC news on the laptop, it was a great result, I had been telling Anna that it would be very special if Tony McCoy did win, he has been the champion jockey for the past 14 years and has ridden in the race 15 times, so it was very emotional when he finally won on Don’t Push It! The trainer Jonjo O’Neill,my hero when he was riding, took part in the race seven times and never finished and the owner J.P. McManus who’s horse’s in the past had won everything, like Tony McCoy, won for the first time, a treble !!
Later in the evening after dinner, steak and chips with all the trimmings, we then watched the live football which was the biggest match of the year in Spain,Real Madrid v Barcelona, it does not start until 10-00pm local time and the stadium holds 80,000 thousand people, at the start of the match they were joint top of the league, the coverage is on all the channels and the atmosphere is electric in Madrid; Barcelona won 2 nil and Messi scored,it means they they go three points clear at the top,
After a lie in on Sunday morning we prepared the Sunday lunch, in fact dinner, as Mano and Anna, who had bought the Lamb, joined us at 7-00pm,as arranged, we have put one Leg of Lamb away for another time, The Lamb was studded with Garlic cloves and Rosemary, Brenda as usual had prepared Cauliflower and Broccoli Mornay,Braised Leeks with Mushrooms, Cabbage and Spanish Spring greens and Baby Carrots with Garden Pears, meanwhile I made Boulangere Potatoes and Herb Roasted New Potatoes and a rich finger coating Rosemary pan gravy ! Mano brought a fine Rioja ,which was enjoyed by all and we all had a relaxing sit down afterwards as we put the world to rights, great company, great friends and a great time was had by all, another treble !!
On Friday morning we went down to the supermarket for the weekend shopping and at the same time picked up the two Legs of Lamb from the English butchers; the weather at the moment is OK but with a little wind it can get a bit crisp in the evening, the village is back to it’s normal tranquil self as we settle back into life in Manilva. In the evening we had for supper Baked Soles which we picked up at the fish market in the village earlier in the week with some local new potatoes and garden peas.
As we got up on Saturday morning we decided to go for a walk around the village to see what had been going on; the work on the new Wine Center is coming along, at the moment the electricians are finishing off; a couple of new little shops have opened, small general stores which open all hours, the work on the church which seems to go on for ever, but you can’t see any difference and at the top of the main street they have knocked down some old buildings and widened the corner, which was very dangerous, and at the same time they are putting in a small water feature. We ended up down at the sports hall and watched the under 12s girls basketball, they are very committed and play on the full size court, sorry to say that Manilva got beat! We then strolled across to the football ground and watched the seven a side football, two matches take place at the same time, across the main pitch, they are local teams from the bars and business’s in the area and the football is very exciting as it is played from end to end, Afterwards we then walked down to Mano and Ann’s house at the other end of the village, past the house’s that collapsed after the storms, we caught up with all the village gossip and made arrangements for our Sunday lunch; Anna calls in all the time to our house so we exchange books and so on.
When we got back we could not watch the Grand National, as we don’t have English TV, so I followed it on BBC news on the laptop, it was a great result, I had been telling Anna that it would be very special if Tony McCoy did win, he has been the champion jockey for the past 14 years and has ridden in the race 15 times, so it was very emotional when he finally won on Don’t Push It! The trainer Jonjo O’Neill,my hero when he was riding, took part in the race seven times and never finished and the owner J.P. McManus who’s horse’s in the past had won everything, like Tony McCoy, won for the first time, a treble !!
Later in the evening after dinner, steak and chips with all the trimmings, we then watched the live football which was the biggest match of the year in Spain,Real Madrid v Barcelona, it does not start until 10-00pm local time and the stadium holds 80,000 thousand people, at the start of the match they were joint top of the league, the coverage is on all the channels and the atmosphere is electric in Madrid; Barcelona won 2 nil and Messi scored,it means they they go three points clear at the top,
After a lie in on Sunday morning we prepared the Sunday lunch, in fact dinner, as Mano and Anna, who had bought the Lamb, joined us at 7-00pm,as arranged, we have put one Leg of Lamb away for another time, The Lamb was studded with Garlic cloves and Rosemary, Brenda as usual had prepared Cauliflower and Broccoli Mornay,Braised Leeks with Mushrooms, Cabbage and Spanish Spring greens and Baby Carrots with Garden Pears, meanwhile I made Boulangere Potatoes and Herb Roasted New Potatoes and a rich finger coating Rosemary pan gravy ! Mano brought a fine Rioja ,which was enjoyed by all and we all had a relaxing sit down afterwards as we put the world to rights, great company, great friends and a great time was had by all, another treble !!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
DAILY LIFE IN MANILVA.
THURSDAY 8TH APRIL 2010.
I have just finished making a Chicken curry for dinner tonight, it’s on the stove simmering away so I have come upstairs to the office to catch up,on Tuesday we had an at home day and sorted and packed everything away, the weather was rather overcast and cloudy so it was a good day to settle back into our home. In the evening we had Pork escalopes in a lemon butter sauce and Layonaise potatoes for supper before settling down to read, over the last couple of day I have been reading James Patterson, which I’m into, as we had no TV; the Spanish system at the start of the year was upgraded, digital/analogue and we needed a small conversion box to get thing working again.
On Wednesday morning Mano and Anna called in so Mano helped me install the box and now we have our picture clearer than ever and some more channels; Mano then came up in the office and we tried to install the page for our electricity company, we have come back to a rather large estimated bill and so we want to go online and put our readings in every month,Mano had had the same problem and also our neighbours as well, it happens at this time of the year but we could not get the page to accept our details, so it’s going to be plan B,try again later ! We then went up to Bar Rojas for a lunchtime drink as it was a beautiful day, the hottest so far, so we sat outside and took in the tranquility of the village and watch the world go by, as we sit in Calle Mar which is one way, we see all the cars go past and also the locals going about their daily business, the Mayor calls in for a coffee, the Chief of Police stops and says hello, locals stop and chat and gossip! Later we had a plate of Patatas Fritas with Mayonaises before we went back to our house and went up on the roof terrace for our early evening cocktail as we took in the evening sunshine;
This morning at lunchtime we walked around to the clinic as Brenda had an appointment, it turned out to be the last one as it has cleared up and does not need dressing any more just a little antiseptic wash each day, which is good news. Brenda is up on the terrace and I am just going to join her for our first drink of the day, the house smells like a Curry house, as you walk through the village at different times of the day you can smell what’s on the stove and tell what they are cooking, our next door neighbour this week has passed through our back kitchen windows from her back yard lots of fresh fruit and vegetables from their garden outside the village, spring greens, Broad Beans in the pod, Brenda’s favorite and this morning very large Lemons ! I don’t know what they think about the smells from our house.
I have just finished making a Chicken curry for dinner tonight, it’s on the stove simmering away so I have come upstairs to the office to catch up,on Tuesday we had an at home day and sorted and packed everything away, the weather was rather overcast and cloudy so it was a good day to settle back into our home. In the evening we had Pork escalopes in a lemon butter sauce and Layonaise potatoes for supper before settling down to read, over the last couple of day I have been reading James Patterson, which I’m into, as we had no TV; the Spanish system at the start of the year was upgraded, digital/analogue and we needed a small conversion box to get thing working again.
On Wednesday morning Mano and Anna called in so Mano helped me install the box and now we have our picture clearer than ever and some more channels; Mano then came up in the office and we tried to install the page for our electricity company, we have come back to a rather large estimated bill and so we want to go online and put our readings in every month,Mano had had the same problem and also our neighbours as well, it happens at this time of the year but we could not get the page to accept our details, so it’s going to be plan B,try again later ! We then went up to Bar Rojas for a lunchtime drink as it was a beautiful day, the hottest so far, so we sat outside and took in the tranquility of the village and watch the world go by, as we sit in Calle Mar which is one way, we see all the cars go past and also the locals going about their daily business, the Mayor calls in for a coffee, the Chief of Police stops and says hello, locals stop and chat and gossip! Later we had a plate of Patatas Fritas with Mayonaises before we went back to our house and went up on the roof terrace for our early evening cocktail as we took in the evening sunshine;
This morning at lunchtime we walked around to the clinic as Brenda had an appointment, it turned out to be the last one as it has cleared up and does not need dressing any more just a little antiseptic wash each day, which is good news. Brenda is up on the terrace and I am just going to join her for our first drink of the day, the house smells like a Curry house, as you walk through the village at different times of the day you can smell what’s on the stove and tell what they are cooking, our next door neighbour this week has passed through our back kitchen windows from her back yard lots of fresh fruit and vegetables from their garden outside the village, spring greens, Broad Beans in the pod, Brenda’s favorite and this morning very large Lemons ! I don’t know what they think about the smells from our house.
Monday, April 05, 2010
MANILVA SEMANA SANTA.
MONDAY 5th. APRIL 2010.
We arrived home on Saturday afternoon at about 4-00pm as we stopped at the supermarket to pick up some essentials; the weather was gorgeous, it was the best day by far with blue skies and the temperature was 25degs. We unpacked the Smart car outside our front door and started to air the house as we pulled up all the shutters and opened all the windows; as we were just getting clear Mano and Anna called in to welcome us back to Manilva,a few drinks later and we were feeling no pain ! They went off as Mano had to get to bed as he is working as the night manager at the Manilva Green Aparthotel so after a little more sorting out we went up our street to Bar Rojas for some supper; they welcomed us with open arms as did all our neighbours next to us in our street. We sat outside and took in the peace and tranquility of the village as we watched the world go by, for supper Brenda had a Frito Pescado cooked in a very light batter and I had Eggs Frito and Patatas Fritas,the eggs were still in the Chicken in the morning and the potatoes were still in the ground ! They always serve on the side of the plate roasted Garlic cloves which Brenda ate with glee; we had moved inside as the match on the TV was Barcelona v Atl-Madrid,it got very noisy as Barcelona murdered Madrid ! We went to bed and slept the sleep of the content!
As we woke on Sunday morning the sun was out and the blue skies did not have a cloud in the sky; our first job was to get Brenda’s wound seen to so we walked around to the surgery and we struck lucky; there was a duty Doctor and a Paramedic and they checked out Brenda and redressed her wound, which is looking a lot better, we then made the arrangements to see the nurse during the week and have the Anti-Tetanus booster jab. The village was already busy as all the locals .dressed in their finest made their way down to the church; we had a coffee in the main street and then went to the church which was full to capacity and also all the crowds had gathered outside to see the procession. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and the temperature rose to 25degs.again,the air was filled with incense from alter boys as the came out onto the steps and the crowds all applauded as the Tableau of the Virgen del Rosario was brought out to start the procession; in the pictures below you cam see the main street and the town hall earlier in the morning, then the Tableau leaving the church, the Mayor is saying hello to us and in the next picture the town council and the Padre are leading the walk behind the village Brass Band which leads the procession in a slow march, meanwhile we made our way back to Bar Rojas were they were finishing the Paella,Lume the owners wife is on the left, we got a prime seat outside and Anna came and joined us as the Tableau reached the town hall on its first pass, and the next picture shows the band leader after they turned around at the bottom of the village leading them back along Calle Mar towards the top of our street, in the final picture Juan our friend is in the sunglasses next to last on the left as he carries the tableau along with about 40 other lodge members. The afternoon then gets going as all the bars fill up with all the families and as we sat outside lots of the locals came up to us and welcomed us back as we sat enjoying the Paella,we then walked down to the house and Brenda went up on the roof terrace and I had a little siesta !
In the evening I made some savory mince for a Cottage pie for today, which Brenda has just finished with her famous mash and for supper we had flattened Breast of Chicken cooked in a foaming Curry butter sauce with baked potatoes.
Today we have been catching up with all the chore around the house ( Brenda ) and I have been in the office sorting out the e-mails and Face book messages, then bringing the blog up to date, as you can see ! the only problem being that we have been having power cuts all day and I was very lucky to manage to save the work as I went along; this morning we had a Skype SMS message from Kuala Lumpur,from Jeff and Annette to say that they are coming to see us at the end of June for a very quick visit ( Two Days ) so we called them back on the Skype video and had a long chat with Annette, Jeff was away on business in Hong Kong and South Korea,she brought us up to date with all their news including that their daughter Kate, who is 21 this year, is in Canada and they are visiting her at the same time when they come over to England. Tomorrow we have a little running around to do for light bulbs and things including getting my Spanish mobile back into English as it at the moment in Russian !!
We arrived home on Saturday afternoon at about 4-00pm as we stopped at the supermarket to pick up some essentials; the weather was gorgeous, it was the best day by far with blue skies and the temperature was 25degs. We unpacked the Smart car outside our front door and started to air the house as we pulled up all the shutters and opened all the windows; as we were just getting clear Mano and Anna called in to welcome us back to Manilva,a few drinks later and we were feeling no pain ! They went off as Mano had to get to bed as he is working as the night manager at the Manilva Green Aparthotel so after a little more sorting out we went up our street to Bar Rojas for some supper; they welcomed us with open arms as did all our neighbours next to us in our street. We sat outside and took in the peace and tranquility of the village as we watched the world go by, for supper Brenda had a Frito Pescado cooked in a very light batter and I had Eggs Frito and Patatas Fritas,the eggs were still in the Chicken in the morning and the potatoes were still in the ground ! They always serve on the side of the plate roasted Garlic cloves which Brenda ate with glee; we had moved inside as the match on the TV was Barcelona v Atl-Madrid,it got very noisy as Barcelona murdered Madrid ! We went to bed and slept the sleep of the content!
As we woke on Sunday morning the sun was out and the blue skies did not have a cloud in the sky; our first job was to get Brenda’s wound seen to so we walked around to the surgery and we struck lucky; there was a duty Doctor and a Paramedic and they checked out Brenda and redressed her wound, which is looking a lot better, we then made the arrangements to see the nurse during the week and have the Anti-Tetanus booster jab. The village was already busy as all the locals .dressed in their finest made their way down to the church; we had a coffee in the main street and then went to the church which was full to capacity and also all the crowds had gathered outside to see the procession. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and the temperature rose to 25degs.again,the air was filled with incense from alter boys as the came out onto the steps and the crowds all applauded as the Tableau of the Virgen del Rosario was brought out to start the procession; in the pictures below you cam see the main street and the town hall earlier in the morning, then the Tableau leaving the church, the Mayor is saying hello to us and in the next picture the town council and the Padre are leading the walk behind the village Brass Band which leads the procession in a slow march, meanwhile we made our way back to Bar Rojas were they were finishing the Paella,Lume the owners wife is on the left, we got a prime seat outside and Anna came and joined us as the Tableau reached the town hall on its first pass, and the next picture shows the band leader after they turned around at the bottom of the village leading them back along Calle Mar towards the top of our street, in the final picture Juan our friend is in the sunglasses next to last on the left as he carries the tableau along with about 40 other lodge members. The afternoon then gets going as all the bars fill up with all the families and as we sat outside lots of the locals came up to us and welcomed us back as we sat enjoying the Paella,we then walked down to the house and Brenda went up on the roof terrace and I had a little siesta !
In the evening I made some savory mince for a Cottage pie for today, which Brenda has just finished with her famous mash and for supper we had flattened Breast of Chicken cooked in a foaming Curry butter sauce with baked potatoes.
Today we have been catching up with all the chore around the house ( Brenda ) and I have been in the office sorting out the e-mails and Face book messages, then bringing the blog up to date, as you can see ! the only problem being that we have been having power cuts all day and I was very lucky to manage to save the work as I went along; this morning we had a Skype SMS message from Kuala Lumpur,from Jeff and Annette to say that they are coming to see us at the end of June for a very quick visit ( Two Days ) so we called them back on the Skype video and had a long chat with Annette, Jeff was away on business in Hong Kong and South Korea,she brought us up to date with all their news including that their daughter Kate, who is 21 this year, is in Canada and they are visiting her at the same time when they come over to England. Tomorrow we have a little running around to do for light bulbs and things including getting my Spanish mobile back into English as it at the moment in Russian !!
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Friday, April 02, 2010
NEWS UPDATE; THE SAGA CONTINUES.
FRIDAY 2nd APRIL 2010.
Well we are still here in Sunny Tarifa and it is looking like the saga is going to go on for a while longer; this morning we went to the clinic in Tarifa and one of the doctors that has been looking after Brenda took us straight in to check the wound, yesterday we signed out from the clinic as we thought that we would be back in Manilva !
Chris phoned at about noon and said that he had broken down again, this time in Bordeaux,he had got the car repaired and was heading for North West Spain and then across through Madrid to the Costa del Sol; This time it was terminal with his car and he was having to leave it at the garage, he is taking a flight from Bordeaux to either Malaga,which would be the best as Mano has said that he will go and pick him at the airport, or back to London and then catch the next available flight to Gibraltar!!
Needless to say we have cancelled Easter at home in Manilva,this morning I rang the English butchers and he has re-hung our two Legs of Lamb for another time ! We are very low on food and drink as the shops have been shut for the last two days and we did not expect to be still here; for today the ration is one Egg each !
Meanwhile Joan who is not very well at the best of times doesn’t know whether she is on this earth or fuller’s !! I must say that it has got us shaking a bit as we are very concerned as we are struggling to keep on top of things; the three main bills of Water, Electricity and the Phones are all due in the next week or so and there is still no sign of any money transfers coming through.
As I have said many times before – WATCH THIS SPACE !!
Thought for Today;
We are P- - - - d O - - !
.
Well we are still here in Sunny Tarifa and it is looking like the saga is going to go on for a while longer; this morning we went to the clinic in Tarifa and one of the doctors that has been looking after Brenda took us straight in to check the wound, yesterday we signed out from the clinic as we thought that we would be back in Manilva !
Chris phoned at about noon and said that he had broken down again, this time in Bordeaux,he had got the car repaired and was heading for North West Spain and then across through Madrid to the Costa del Sol; This time it was terminal with his car and he was having to leave it at the garage, he is taking a flight from Bordeaux to either Malaga,which would be the best as Mano has said that he will go and pick him at the airport, or back to London and then catch the next available flight to Gibraltar!!
Needless to say we have cancelled Easter at home in Manilva,this morning I rang the English butchers and he has re-hung our two Legs of Lamb for another time ! We are very low on food and drink as the shops have been shut for the last two days and we did not expect to be still here; for today the ration is one Egg each !
Meanwhile Joan who is not very well at the best of times doesn’t know whether she is on this earth or fuller’s !! I must say that it has got us shaking a bit as we are very concerned as we are struggling to keep on top of things; the three main bills of Water, Electricity and the Phones are all due in the next week or so and there is still no sign of any money transfers coming through.
As I have said many times before – WATCH THIS SPACE !!
Thought for Today;
We are P- - - - d O - - !
.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
NEWSFLASH ( APRIL FOOL'S DAY ) 1ST APRIL 2010.
THURSDAY 1ST APRIL 2010.
Yes it’s April Fools Day and yes we have been caught!! This morning after coming back from the clinic and signing off we packed the Smart car and were ready to leave when Chris arrived later in the day.
The phone went just before noon and it was Chris ringing to say that he had broken down in Northern France and was waiting to hear what the problem was and how long it would take to repair!
Later in the afternoon he rang back to say that they were bringing a new manifold from another town and he hoped to be back on the road by the late afternoon; he is 15/16 hours of non-stop driving away from us here in Tarifa !
We have unpacked the Smart car and Brenda is at the moment remaking the bed for tonight; we have not got a lot of food in the villa and the shops are closed today for the Semana Santa weekend ! It’s going to be Egg and chips for dinner tonight !
So we hope to see him some time tomorrow morning !!!
PS; No joy I"am afraid, the car is still not fixed and the garage has closed until Friday morning so we are going to cancel our Easter Sunday lunch !
Thought for Today;
If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
.
Yes it’s April Fools Day and yes we have been caught!! This morning after coming back from the clinic and signing off we packed the Smart car and were ready to leave when Chris arrived later in the day.
The phone went just before noon and it was Chris ringing to say that he had broken down in Northern France and was waiting to hear what the problem was and how long it would take to repair!
Later in the afternoon he rang back to say that they were bringing a new manifold from another town and he hoped to be back on the road by the late afternoon; he is 15/16 hours of non-stop driving away from us here in Tarifa !
We have unpacked the Smart car and Brenda is at the moment remaking the bed for tonight; we have not got a lot of food in the villa and the shops are closed today for the Semana Santa weekend ! It’s going to be Egg and chips for dinner tonight !
So we hope to see him some time tomorrow morning !!!
PS; No joy I"am afraid, the car is still not fixed and the garage has closed until Friday morning so we are going to cancel our Easter Sunday lunch !
Thought for Today;
If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
" D " DAY MINUS ONE AND COUNTING.
Wednesday 31st. March 2010.
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa; our Doctor looks after Brenda very well and fast tracks her in, the weather today is bright and sunny and the forecast for the weekend is more of the same. Today we are catching up with all the chores around the villa and sorting our selves out at the same time; Boo is back to his old self and Millie is running around as usual, both the cats are in and out all the time. Last night Joan did not sleep too well with her back and neck pain so we are settling her down for the day and making her take it easy.
During Tuesday evening Chris phoned from London to confirm that he will definitely be home on Thursday; he is still unable to give us any details about when, with who, how, requirements etc. so it is the lap of gods, as usual!
We will miss the space of the villa and the views but we are really looking forward to getting back into our life style back in Manilva, the two dogs have become great friends and we are going to miss seeing and hearing them everyday,Casa Olimpia has been our life for the last year and we are going to miss it and Tarifa; we have had some good times and lots of ups and downs during the year and will write about it in more detail after we get back to our house and after,hopfully sorting out with Chris the financial matters outstanding !! Watch this space!!
The next time that I will typing the blog I will be in the office in our house in Manilva.
Final Thought for the Day;
What happens to you does not matter, what you become through those experiences is all that is significant, this is the true meaning of life!
.
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa; our Doctor looks after Brenda very well and fast tracks her in, the weather today is bright and sunny and the forecast for the weekend is more of the same. Today we are catching up with all the chores around the villa and sorting our selves out at the same time; Boo is back to his old self and Millie is running around as usual, both the cats are in and out all the time. Last night Joan did not sleep too well with her back and neck pain so we are settling her down for the day and making her take it easy.
During Tuesday evening Chris phoned from London to confirm that he will definitely be home on Thursday; he is still unable to give us any details about when, with who, how, requirements etc. so it is the lap of gods, as usual!
We will miss the space of the villa and the views but we are really looking forward to getting back into our life style back in Manilva, the two dogs have become great friends and we are going to miss seeing and hearing them everyday,Casa Olimpia has been our life for the last year and we are going to miss it and Tarifa; we have had some good times and lots of ups and downs during the year and will write about it in more detail after we get back to our house and after,hopfully sorting out with Chris the financial matters outstanding !! Watch this space!!
The next time that I will typing the blog I will be in the office in our house in Manilva.
Final Thought for the Day;
What happens to you does not matter, what you become through those experiences is all that is significant, this is the true meaning of life!
.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
DAY 3 COUNTDOWN TO THE GREAT ESCAPE.
Tuesday 30th March 2010.
Well this morning I was up bright and early as I had to go across to Manilva to drop off some more bits and pieces at the house; there was more traffic about on the motorway and the tolls had nearly doubled for Easter!
I called into the surgery to get my prescription and collected the tablets from the chemists in the main street;
They were all ready for the Semana Santa weekend and the stalls were going up, on the way back I called into
see Mano and Anna to catch up with the village gossip, Carlos called in and Andy was also there; Mano and
Carlos are taking bets to see if we get out on Thursday and for what time we will get home !! I then stopped at the English butchers and ordered two Legs of Lamb for our Sunday lunch – Fingers crossed. Whilst I was in the village I took the picture below of the Wine Center and the progress on the finishing.
When I got back to the villa I picked Brenda up and we shot down to the clinic in Tarifa for her daily check up;
Our regular doctor gave her a good check and cleaned and cut away some old skin before he redressed the wound, he says that it will require 5/7 more days of treatment so we will have to arrange things when we get back to Manilva. We have arranged two more visits on Wednesday and Thursday to Tarifa.
At lunchtime when we came back from Tarifa I made a Beef Stew for dinner tonight; it contains, Onions, Garlic, Carrots,Celery.Leeks,Parsnips,Green Beans,Tomatoe,Mushrooms,Lentils and diced Potatoes all combined and cooked in a rich Red wine stock and some secret ingredients!
Thought for the Day;
Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.
.
Well this morning I was up bright and early as I had to go across to Manilva to drop off some more bits and pieces at the house; there was more traffic about on the motorway and the tolls had nearly doubled for Easter!
I called into the surgery to get my prescription and collected the tablets from the chemists in the main street;
They were all ready for the Semana Santa weekend and the stalls were going up, on the way back I called into
see Mano and Anna to catch up with the village gossip, Carlos called in and Andy was also there; Mano and
Carlos are taking bets to see if we get out on Thursday and for what time we will get home !! I then stopped at the English butchers and ordered two Legs of Lamb for our Sunday lunch – Fingers crossed. Whilst I was in the village I took the picture below of the Wine Center and the progress on the finishing.
When I got back to the villa I picked Brenda up and we shot down to the clinic in Tarifa for her daily check up;
Our regular doctor gave her a good check and cleaned and cut away some old skin before he redressed the wound, he says that it will require 5/7 more days of treatment so we will have to arrange things when we get back to Manilva. We have arranged two more visits on Wednesday and Thursday to Tarifa.
At lunchtime when we came back from Tarifa I made a Beef Stew for dinner tonight; it contains, Onions, Garlic, Carrots,Celery.Leeks,Parsnips,Green Beans,Tomatoe,Mushrooms,Lentils and diced Potatoes all combined and cooked in a rich Red wine stock and some secret ingredients!
Thought for the Day;
Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.
.
Monday, March 29, 2010
DAY 4 COUNTDOWN TO D DAY.
Monday 29th March 2010.
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa and the wound is looking a lot better and now only requires a small dressing so in the next few days we think that it will be OK and our daily visits will be over. Tomorrow I have to go across to Manilva as I need to get a new prescription for my tablets so I am going to take more of our stuff so as we are ready for an easy getaway on Thursday!
This morning before we went out we made contact with Jack and Lyn in Melbourne on the Skype video phone; they have been away for a couple of weeks in their touring caravan along the coast, they have also celebrated their first wedding anniversary whilst they were away – doesn’t time fly when you are having fun ! We wish you all the very best and many more of the same in the future.
The weather is still very good, today it is warm and crisp with white fluffy clouds but a just a little breeze; it is also keeping the same over the next week so we are looking forward to getting back into out life in the village and seeing all our friends and neighbours and visiting all our local bars especially Bar Rochas as the top of our street !
Thought for the Day;
Birthdays are good for you, the more you have ,the longer you live.
.
L
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa and the wound is looking a lot better and now only requires a small dressing so in the next few days we think that it will be OK and our daily visits will be over. Tomorrow I have to go across to Manilva as I need to get a new prescription for my tablets so I am going to take more of our stuff so as we are ready for an easy getaway on Thursday!
This morning before we went out we made contact with Jack and Lyn in Melbourne on the Skype video phone; they have been away for a couple of weeks in their touring caravan along the coast, they have also celebrated their first wedding anniversary whilst they were away – doesn’t time fly when you are having fun ! We wish you all the very best and many more of the same in the future.
The weather is still very good, today it is warm and crisp with white fluffy clouds but a just a little breeze; it is also keeping the same over the next week so we are looking forward to getting back into out life in the village and seeing all our friends and neighbours and visiting all our local bars especially Bar Rochas as the top of our street !
Thought for the Day;
Birthdays are good for you, the more you have ,the longer you live.
.
L
Sunday, March 28, 2010
DAY 5 COUNTDOWN TO THE GREAT ESCAPE AND DOGFLASH.
Sunday 28th March 2010 Palm Sunday.
Well we have just had a “Helluva ” day down here in sunny Tarifa, last evening Boo was a little off colour and not his usual self; he came in from the garden in the evening looking very down and self conscious; it turned out that he tried to go to the toilet and got himself in a right mess ! He would not let us help him and was obviously in pain but would not let us near him. During the night he did not sleep and Brenda, who was very worried spent most of the night trying to comfort him; this morning things took a turn for the worse when he tried to go to the toilet again and was in great pain. So I called the local vet on the 24hr. emergency number and it turned out that he was in his office down in Tarifa and he suggested that it would be better if we took him down; we all jumped in the Smart car, which Boo happen to like, and rushed the patient, wrapped in a blanket down to see the vet ! The vet soon sorted him out and he did not need to have an anesthetic as we helped to hold him down on the table; he gave him an injection after sorting out the business end of the problem and gave us a large tablet to give him as well as some special intestine food for the next couple of days along with plenty of water. He is now fast asleep and taking things easy for the rest of the day !
We have just spoken to Chris over in London as I had sent him a text message to tell him about Boo, he confirmed that he will be home on Thursday so it looks like the Great Escape is on !!
PS; On the final day of the World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen Ed Clancy of GB. won a gold in the " Omnium " which takes place over five disciplines on the same day making the Great Britain team second in the medal table behind Australia .
PPS; Button has just won a very exciting Grand Prix in Melbourne and Liverpool beat Sunderland with Torres scoring a wonder goal !
Thought for the Day;
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
.
Well we have just had a “Helluva ” day down here in sunny Tarifa, last evening Boo was a little off colour and not his usual self; he came in from the garden in the evening looking very down and self conscious; it turned out that he tried to go to the toilet and got himself in a right mess ! He would not let us help him and was obviously in pain but would not let us near him. During the night he did not sleep and Brenda, who was very worried spent most of the night trying to comfort him; this morning things took a turn for the worse when he tried to go to the toilet again and was in great pain. So I called the local vet on the 24hr. emergency number and it turned out that he was in his office down in Tarifa and he suggested that it would be better if we took him down; we all jumped in the Smart car, which Boo happen to like, and rushed the patient, wrapped in a blanket down to see the vet ! The vet soon sorted him out and he did not need to have an anesthetic as we helped to hold him down on the table; he gave him an injection after sorting out the business end of the problem and gave us a large tablet to give him as well as some special intestine food for the next couple of days along with plenty of water. He is now fast asleep and taking things easy for the rest of the day !
We have just spoken to Chris over in London as I had sent him a text message to tell him about Boo, he confirmed that he will be home on Thursday so it looks like the Great Escape is on !!
PS; On the final day of the World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen Ed Clancy of GB. won a gold in the " Omnium " which takes place over five disciplines on the same day making the Great Britain team second in the medal table behind Australia .
PPS; Button has just won a very exciting Grand Prix in Melbourne and Liverpool beat Sunderland with Torres scoring a wonder goal !
Thought for the Day;
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
NAVAL FLEET IN THE STRAITE.
Saturday 27th March 2010.
It has been the most beautiful evening after a glorious day and the views across the Straite to Africa have been spectacular; there has been a lot of shipping including ferries going in each direction since early this morning and just in the last few minutes a small naval fleet has just passed us presumable on it’s way to the Atlantic; when I checked it out on the online ship watch it only gives some basic details, not like the general shipping when it tells me the name,speed.destination and arrival dates as well as other relevant information. The main part was a very large Aircraft Carrier escorted by a destroyer and a very modern frigate, all travelling at speed, I could not make out their nationality but I will presume that they were Spanish not English or American but they did not have any flags flying! Sorry to say that I was not able to take a picture as my zoom on the Digi-Cam is not that strong.
It has been the most beautiful evening after a glorious day and the views across the Straite to Africa have been spectacular; there has been a lot of shipping including ferries going in each direction since early this morning and just in the last few minutes a small naval fleet has just passed us presumable on it’s way to the Atlantic; when I checked it out on the online ship watch it only gives some basic details, not like the general shipping when it tells me the name,speed.destination and arrival dates as well as other relevant information. The main part was a very large Aircraft Carrier escorted by a destroyer and a very modern frigate, all travelling at speed, I could not make out their nationality but I will presume that they were Spanish not English or American but they did not have any flags flying! Sorry to say that I was not able to take a picture as my zoom on the Digi-Cam is not that strong.
DAY 6 COUNTDOWN TO THE GREAT ESCAPE.
,Saturday 27th March 2010.
Another marvelous day this morning with clear blue skies and the sun out from early in the morning; we have all the doors and windows open to let in the fresh air and the dogs are out in the garden going mad chasing around, the vet has still not been to see Boo as we have to keep changing the appointment as we make the visits to the clinic to get Brenda’s dressing changed. We are now trying to fit him in on Monday morning as next week is going to be rather busy; one little problem at the moment is that we have not heard from Chris over in London for five or six days and so have not had a final confirmation of when he is arriving on Thursday as well as no money transfers have arrived even after seven text messages! This is normal but a little worrying to say the least.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and in Manilva it is the start of the Semana Santa processions around the village; all the locals carry Palm branches and the streets are covered in them so we are sorry to miss it all happening as it is one of the nicest days. The following weekend there are three processions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the one on Friday taking place after midnight when it takes place in complete silence! Now that the weather has changed for the better it will be a very nice friendly time in the village and so we hoping, fingers crossed, that are plans come into fruition. Last time we where in the village we noticed that there has been a lot of progress on the wine centre and it’s starting to look very impressive so next week watch out for a picture update as I have to go over at the start of the week on various messages.
The Sky system has been acting up all week so we have not been able to watch our regular programmes; last night we just caught the end of day three at the World Track Cycling Championships from Copenhagen and once again Greta Britain had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s team pursuit when the Aussies just pipped us to the Gold, their 5th at the championship.Britain's Victoria Pendleton was in imperious form as she has just collected her fouth successive sprint title depite falling in the best of three final,earlier she had beaten the Australian girl,it is her fifth triumh in in this event in six years. Meanwhile Sir Chis Hoy was beaten in the quater final when his German opponent used controversial tatics by racing away for the three laps,not illegal but not in the spirit of the sport ! It looks like we will not be able also to follow the Grand Prix from Melbourne as it has gone off again;
Thought for the Day;
When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
,
Another marvelous day this morning with clear blue skies and the sun out from early in the morning; we have all the doors and windows open to let in the fresh air and the dogs are out in the garden going mad chasing around, the vet has still not been to see Boo as we have to keep changing the appointment as we make the visits to the clinic to get Brenda’s dressing changed. We are now trying to fit him in on Monday morning as next week is going to be rather busy; one little problem at the moment is that we have not heard from Chris over in London for five or six days and so have not had a final confirmation of when he is arriving on Thursday as well as no money transfers have arrived even after seven text messages! This is normal but a little worrying to say the least.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and in Manilva it is the start of the Semana Santa processions around the village; all the locals carry Palm branches and the streets are covered in them so we are sorry to miss it all happening as it is one of the nicest days. The following weekend there are three processions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the one on Friday taking place after midnight when it takes place in complete silence! Now that the weather has changed for the better it will be a very nice friendly time in the village and so we hoping, fingers crossed, that are plans come into fruition. Last time we where in the village we noticed that there has been a lot of progress on the wine centre and it’s starting to look very impressive so next week watch out for a picture update as I have to go over at the start of the week on various messages.
The Sky system has been acting up all week so we have not been able to watch our regular programmes; last night we just caught the end of day three at the World Track Cycling Championships from Copenhagen and once again Greta Britain had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s team pursuit when the Aussies just pipped us to the Gold, their 5th at the championship.Britain's Victoria Pendleton was in imperious form as she has just collected her fouth successive sprint title depite falling in the best of three final,earlier she had beaten the Australian girl,it is her fifth triumh in in this event in six years. Meanwhile Sir Chis Hoy was beaten in the quater final when his German opponent used controversial tatics by racing away for the three laps,not illegal but not in the spirit of the sport ! It looks like we will not be able also to follow the Grand Prix from Melbourne as it has gone off again;
Thought for the Day;
When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
,
Friday, March 26, 2010
DAY 7 COUNTDOWN TO THE GREAT ESCAPE.
Friday 26th March 2010.
For the next few days over the weekend and into next week the weather forecast is a lot better; no rain or wind just a little cloudy with blue skies and warm sun, the storm has missed us again and is heading through Portugal, Northern Spain, France and across to the UK ! This morning down in Tarifa it was gorgeous as we went for the weekend shopping and then on to the clinic, the doctor said that Brenda’s wound was very much improved; she is still going everyday to have the dressing changed for about another week so we will have to call into our clinic in Manilva to arrange things past next Thursday, if required.
This evening we are having the small Dab Soles for dinner as they had just come onto the fish market; over the weekend on Saturday we going to have Steak and Frits and for Sunday lunch it is Loin of Pork; on the phone to Mano and Anna the other day, Anna suggested that she would buy a Leg Of Lamb for Easter Sunday, our first back in Manilva as they have missed our Sunday roasts over the last year ! It will take us a little while to get back into our routine in the house as we have grown accustomed to the villa especially the space; when we have people around to eat in Manilva our table when we have ten around it means that we have to open the front doors and the person at the end of the table is out on the street !
Last night we caught up with Tim and Thea over in Colwyn Bay,Tim was away on a international schools conference over in Berlin for the week so his daughter Jo answered the phone and we caught up with all her news; she is going to university in Liverpool after her gap year and is really looking forward to moving to the halls of residence in September, Every Sunday Brenda calls Jenny to see how she is and at the same time catch up with her and Norah’s news over in England,
Thought for the Day;
Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
.
For the next few days over the weekend and into next week the weather forecast is a lot better; no rain or wind just a little cloudy with blue skies and warm sun, the storm has missed us again and is heading through Portugal, Northern Spain, France and across to the UK ! This morning down in Tarifa it was gorgeous as we went for the weekend shopping and then on to the clinic, the doctor said that Brenda’s wound was very much improved; she is still going everyday to have the dressing changed for about another week so we will have to call into our clinic in Manilva to arrange things past next Thursday, if required.
This evening we are having the small Dab Soles for dinner as they had just come onto the fish market; over the weekend on Saturday we going to have Steak and Frits and for Sunday lunch it is Loin of Pork; on the phone to Mano and Anna the other day, Anna suggested that she would buy a Leg Of Lamb for Easter Sunday, our first back in Manilva as they have missed our Sunday roasts over the last year ! It will take us a little while to get back into our routine in the house as we have grown accustomed to the villa especially the space; when we have people around to eat in Manilva our table when we have ten around it means that we have to open the front doors and the person at the end of the table is out on the street !
Last night we caught up with Tim and Thea over in Colwyn Bay,Tim was away on a international schools conference over in Berlin for the week so his daughter Jo answered the phone and we caught up with all her news; she is going to university in Liverpool after her gap year and is really looking forward to moving to the halls of residence in September, Every Sunday Brenda calls Jenny to see how she is and at the same time catch up with her and Norah’s news over in England,
Thought for the Day;
Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
NEWS UPDATE AND REPORT ON THE WORLD TRACK CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010.
Thursday 25th March 2010.
It is still overcast but at least it’s warm, 20degs. And no wind as we reach our last week here at Casa Olimpia, we hope! We have been here for just over a year, on and off, and for the last ten months 24/7. It seems like only yesterday when we came over in an emergency in June,Jack and Lyn had to come with us as they were staying at the house in Manilva on their honeymoon – Happy Days !
The Sky system is still acting up so we have not been able to catch up with the programmes that we have been following, the BBC IPlayer does not yet work over here. At the moment, all this week, it’s the Track Cycling World Championships 2010 taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is my sport as I was brought up on bicycle’s and racing from a very early age, my dad was a long distance road racer with the Mersey Roads Club and we went to the local concrete,in those days, race track in Bootle opposite Walton Jail as well as Fallowfield in Manchester to see all the greats of the time race! Anyway to get back to the present and Britain is now the leading medal winners at the Olympics in 2008 and at past World Championships but if Britain’s track cyclists needed any reminding that it is not just turning up at London 2012 to collect a clutch of medals, they got it in spades in Copenhagen on the first day. We could only manage silver and bronze medals with even the great Sir Chris Hoy having mechanical problems when his pedal snapped off ! I am typing this in Chris’s office in the villa and have just been reminded that in his youth Chris was a world champion racer, his Rainbow jersey is hanging on the wall above my head and his light weight bicycle’s are in the garage !
NB; This evening Sir Chris Hoy has just powered to victory in the Keiren event despite crashing in the first heat,it is his 10th World title gold medal; sadly in the Women's Team Pursuit the Australian ladies beat the British girls in the final and scored another Gold for the Aussies !
This afternoon we are going down to the clinic in Tarifa to get Brenda’s dressing checked and changed and later in the day the vet is coming to give Boo the once over; we will miss the two dogs tremendously after we leave as we have become very attached to them. Tonight we are having Pork Cutlets with Lyonnaise potatoes for supper with Brenda’s vegetables that she is getting ready in the kitchen at the moment.
Thought for the Day;
You may be the only person in the world, but you may be the world to one person.
.
It is still overcast but at least it’s warm, 20degs. And no wind as we reach our last week here at Casa Olimpia, we hope! We have been here for just over a year, on and off, and for the last ten months 24/7. It seems like only yesterday when we came over in an emergency in June,Jack and Lyn had to come with us as they were staying at the house in Manilva on their honeymoon – Happy Days !
The Sky system is still acting up so we have not been able to catch up with the programmes that we have been following, the BBC IPlayer does not yet work over here. At the moment, all this week, it’s the Track Cycling World Championships 2010 taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is my sport as I was brought up on bicycle’s and racing from a very early age, my dad was a long distance road racer with the Mersey Roads Club and we went to the local concrete,in those days, race track in Bootle opposite Walton Jail as well as Fallowfield in Manchester to see all the greats of the time race! Anyway to get back to the present and Britain is now the leading medal winners at the Olympics in 2008 and at past World Championships but if Britain’s track cyclists needed any reminding that it is not just turning up at London 2012 to collect a clutch of medals, they got it in spades in Copenhagen on the first day. We could only manage silver and bronze medals with even the great Sir Chris Hoy having mechanical problems when his pedal snapped off ! I am typing this in Chris’s office in the villa and have just been reminded that in his youth Chris was a world champion racer, his Rainbow jersey is hanging on the wall above my head and his light weight bicycle’s are in the garage !
NB; This evening Sir Chris Hoy has just powered to victory in the Keiren event despite crashing in the first heat,it is his 10th World title gold medal; sadly in the Women's Team Pursuit the Australian ladies beat the British girls in the final and scored another Gold for the Aussies !
This afternoon we are going down to the clinic in Tarifa to get Brenda’s dressing checked and changed and later in the day the vet is coming to give Boo the once over; we will miss the two dogs tremendously after we leave as we have become very attached to them. Tonight we are having Pork Cutlets with Lyonnaise potatoes for supper with Brenda’s vegetables that she is getting ready in the kitchen at the moment.
Thought for the Day;
You may be the only person in the world, but you may be the world to one person.
.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS UPDATE AND ROAD REPAIR NEWS.
Wednesday 24th March 2010.
This morning we went over to our house in Manilva and dropped off some more of our stuff and also started to stock up the fridge freezer for next week; it now sounds like Chris will back in the villa by next Thursday, fingers crossed ! This will fit in with things very nicely as next weekend is Easter,Semana Santa here, and it is one of the best times in the village, last year we were here ! We are looking forward to going back to Manilva and settling back into life in our house, Brenda is already planning the airing and late spring clean; meanwhile I will be setting my office back into action and first on the agenda is a new printer/copier and also we will have to place our advert back in the paper for more house sitting, we are devils for punishment !
At lunchtime we went across to Estepona for Brenda’s last appointment at the dentists but sadly we did not receive the transfer cash code until we were on our way back; so this afternoon whilst we were in Tarifa at the clinic having the wound cleaned, checked and dressed we then went to the Western Union office and collected some cash for this weeks shopping. Tonight we are having flattened Breast of Chicken pan fried in foaming Lemon butter, the Lemons are from the orchard in the garden, with New Potatoes and Green Beans. Tomorrow afternoon the vet is coming from the health authority to give Boo the once over so he is going to have to be on his best behavior.
On our way down this morning through the hills the road people has been very busy after the latest heavy storms of a few weeks ago; the main road had been washed away on a very bad corner so they had to bring in the pile driver to re-enforce the bank and now they have reinstated the road and resurfaced it over night and everything was nearly back to normal on this very dangerous part of the decent.
Thought for Today;
If you lend someone 20 pounds and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
PS; Later this evening we had a call from one of our old clients over in San Pedro,Caroline, to find out how we are going on,we have not been in touch since before xmas. The outcome is that we have picked up our first job once we are back in Manilva !
.
.
m
This morning we went over to our house in Manilva and dropped off some more of our stuff and also started to stock up the fridge freezer for next week; it now sounds like Chris will back in the villa by next Thursday, fingers crossed ! This will fit in with things very nicely as next weekend is Easter,Semana Santa here, and it is one of the best times in the village, last year we were here ! We are looking forward to going back to Manilva and settling back into life in our house, Brenda is already planning the airing and late spring clean; meanwhile I will be setting my office back into action and first on the agenda is a new printer/copier and also we will have to place our advert back in the paper for more house sitting, we are devils for punishment !
At lunchtime we went across to Estepona for Brenda’s last appointment at the dentists but sadly we did not receive the transfer cash code until we were on our way back; so this afternoon whilst we were in Tarifa at the clinic having the wound cleaned, checked and dressed we then went to the Western Union office and collected some cash for this weeks shopping. Tonight we are having flattened Breast of Chicken pan fried in foaming Lemon butter, the Lemons are from the orchard in the garden, with New Potatoes and Green Beans. Tomorrow afternoon the vet is coming from the health authority to give Boo the once over so he is going to have to be on his best behavior.
On our way down this morning through the hills the road people has been very busy after the latest heavy storms of a few weeks ago; the main road had been washed away on a very bad corner so they had to bring in the pile driver to re-enforce the bank and now they have reinstated the road and resurfaced it over night and everything was nearly back to normal on this very dangerous part of the decent.
Thought for Today;
If you lend someone 20 pounds and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
PS; Later this evening we had a call from one of our old clients over in San Pedro,Caroline, to find out how we are going on,we have not been in touch since before xmas. The outcome is that we have picked up our first job once we are back in Manilva !
.
.
m
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
JUKE BOX JURY .
Tuesday 23rd March 2010.
Now a little something to get the all memories of the good old days going; in the kitchen at the villa is a large original Wurlitzer Juke Box as you can see in the picture below and everyday at some time we play and occasionaly dance to all the favourite tunes of the past; I have listed below some of the all-time Juke Box classics to remind you of our past musical heritage !! In no particular order.
Eddy Cochran – C’ Mon Everybody / Summertime Blues.
Buddy Holly – Maybe Baby / Peggy Sue.
Marcels – Blue Moon.
Frankie Ford – Sea Cruise.
Elvis Presley – Hound Dog / His Latest Flame.
Dion – The Wanderer.
Connie Francis – Who’s Sorry Now / Lipstick on your Colla.
Bill Haley – Rock around the Clock.
Jerry Lee Lewis – Chantilly Lace.
Fats Domino – Ain’t that a Shame.
Los Lobos – La Bamba.
Ricky Valance – Tell Laura I love Her.
Gene Vincent – Be Bop A Lula.
Now doesn’t that get you thinking about the past – send in your requests !
Thought For The Day;
Nobody Cares if you don’t Dance well,Just get up and Dance.
M
Now a little something to get the all memories of the good old days going; in the kitchen at the villa is a large original Wurlitzer Juke Box as you can see in the picture below and everyday at some time we play and occasionaly dance to all the favourite tunes of the past; I have listed below some of the all-time Juke Box classics to remind you of our past musical heritage !! In no particular order.
Eddy Cochran – C’ Mon Everybody / Summertime Blues.
Buddy Holly – Maybe Baby / Peggy Sue.
Marcels – Blue Moon.
Frankie Ford – Sea Cruise.
Elvis Presley – Hound Dog / His Latest Flame.
Dion – The Wanderer.
Connie Francis – Who’s Sorry Now / Lipstick on your Colla.
Bill Haley – Rock around the Clock.
Jerry Lee Lewis – Chantilly Lace.
Fats Domino – Ain’t that a Shame.
Los Lobos – La Bamba.
Ricky Valance – Tell Laura I love Her.
Gene Vincent – Be Bop A Lula.
Now doesn’t that get you thinking about the past – send in your requests !
Thought For The Day;
Nobody Cares if you don’t Dance well,Just get up and Dance.
M
CASA OLIMPIA UPDATE AND BIRD WATCH REPORT.
Tuesday 23rd March 2010.
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa; Brenda still has to go every day to have the wound checked and dressed, as we got back in the villa the phone went, it was vet a calling from outside our house in Manilva! Our address is on all the documents from the hospital so they had gone to check Boo as part of the normal procedure after a dog bite! They are arranging for one to come to the villa in the next few days.
Meanwhile last night we had another call from Chris to say that he will be over next week to arrange the move back to England, later today we are expecting a money transfer for the housekeeping which we will pick up at Western Union in Estepona tomorrow as we are going over to the dentists and also calling into the house in Manilva with some more things. As usual watch this space !
On the way down to Tarifa today we saw some Golden Eagles soaring in the sky above the road, this is quite normal, nearly every time we go out in either direction through the hills we see a “Convocation of Eagles ” as the surrounding hills are a natural breeding area for them; they swoop down very low and you can make out the golden colour of the wings and the bright yellow beaks, the wingspan of the large ones is over 7ft and they are nearly 3ft long ! Very impressive every time.
Thought for today;
Accept that some days you’re the Pigeon and some days you’re the statue !
PS; The Sky system has gone off - again.
We have just come back from the clinic in Tarifa; Brenda still has to go every day to have the wound checked and dressed, as we got back in the villa the phone went, it was vet a calling from outside our house in Manilva! Our address is on all the documents from the hospital so they had gone to check Boo as part of the normal procedure after a dog bite! They are arranging for one to come to the villa in the next few days.
Meanwhile last night we had another call from Chris to say that he will be over next week to arrange the move back to England, later today we are expecting a money transfer for the housekeeping which we will pick up at Western Union in Estepona tomorrow as we are going over to the dentists and also calling into the house in Manilva with some more things. As usual watch this space !
On the way down to Tarifa today we saw some Golden Eagles soaring in the sky above the road, this is quite normal, nearly every time we go out in either direction through the hills we see a “Convocation of Eagles ” as the surrounding hills are a natural breeding area for them; they swoop down very low and you can make out the golden colour of the wings and the bright yellow beaks, the wingspan of the large ones is over 7ft and they are nearly 3ft long ! Very impressive every time.
Thought for today;
Accept that some days you’re the Pigeon and some days you’re the statue !
PS; The Sky system has gone off - again.
Monday, March 22, 2010
WEATHER NEWSFLASH.
Monday 22nd March 2010.
Today for the first time this year the sun is out and it’s getting warmer,21 degs. and rising ! The forecast for the rest of week is cloudy but the temperatures are keeping up.
Thought for Today;
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenary on a detour.
Today for the first time this year the sun is out and it’s getting warmer,21 degs. and rising ! The forecast for the rest of week is cloudy but the temperatures are keeping up.
Thought for Today;
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenary on a detour.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
FOOD REPORT AND FILM REVIEW.
Sunday 21st March 2010.
Over the weekend in the kitchen all sorts of things have been on the menu; On Friday we picked up from the fish market some very small Dab Soles, the first time we had these was as a Tapas in Sevilla when they were deep fried in a light batter, I pan fried ours in foaming Lemon butter, four per portion and they were delicious, we had them with buttered New Potatoes and fresh Garden Peas. For dinner on Saturday we had Minute Steak and chips, I trim all the fat off ,for the dogs, and then Brenda flattens them; served with Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes, sauté Onions, Button Mushrooms and fine Green Beans, I pan fry them in a very hot pan and Brenda’s has Garlic Butter tossed over hers ! Today we are having for our Sunday lunch the Rib of Beef that we picked up the other day; it has just come out of the oven and is resting, meanwhile I have made the Gravy in the cooking tray, Brenda has got the vegetables on the go, Whole Green Beans, Cabbage, Glazed Carrots and Roast Parsnips and I am just about to put the Roast Potatoes with Herbs in the oven! Cold Rare Roast Beef for supper tomorrow night will start us off on another week.
Last night I watched a film on Channel Four that I had read about back in 2006; The Departed is an engrossing gangster drama, directed by Martin Scorsese which won four Oscars and many other awards around the world. Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish Mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil over when discoveries are made, and moles are dispatched to find out their enemy’s identities! Matt Damon and Leonardo Dicaprio play the two deep cover agents and Jack Nicholson is the Mafia boss, the excellent supporting cast includes Martin Sheen, Alex Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone being Ray Winstone in his usual menacing self ! It is a very gritty story and utterly compelling to watch.
PS; Still no news from Chris over in England as to when things are going to happen !!
PPS; Just had a phone call from Chris and it sounds that somthing could happen later in the week - Watch this space.!!
Over the weekend in the kitchen all sorts of things have been on the menu; On Friday we picked up from the fish market some very small Dab Soles, the first time we had these was as a Tapas in Sevilla when they were deep fried in a light batter, I pan fried ours in foaming Lemon butter, four per portion and they were delicious, we had them with buttered New Potatoes and fresh Garden Peas. For dinner on Saturday we had Minute Steak and chips, I trim all the fat off ,for the dogs, and then Brenda flattens them; served with Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes, sauté Onions, Button Mushrooms and fine Green Beans, I pan fry them in a very hot pan and Brenda’s has Garlic Butter tossed over hers ! Today we are having for our Sunday lunch the Rib of Beef that we picked up the other day; it has just come out of the oven and is resting, meanwhile I have made the Gravy in the cooking tray, Brenda has got the vegetables on the go, Whole Green Beans, Cabbage, Glazed Carrots and Roast Parsnips and I am just about to put the Roast Potatoes with Herbs in the oven! Cold Rare Roast Beef for supper tomorrow night will start us off on another week.
Last night I watched a film on Channel Four that I had read about back in 2006; The Departed is an engrossing gangster drama, directed by Martin Scorsese which won four Oscars and many other awards around the world. Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish Mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil over when discoveries are made, and moles are dispatched to find out their enemy’s identities! Matt Damon and Leonardo Dicaprio play the two deep cover agents and Jack Nicholson is the Mafia boss, the excellent supporting cast includes Martin Sheen, Alex Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone being Ray Winstone in his usual menacing self ! It is a very gritty story and utterly compelling to watch.
PS; Still no news from Chris over in England as to when things are going to happen !!
PPS; Just had a phone call from Chris and it sounds that somthing could happen later in the week - Watch this space.!!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
HEALTH UPDATE AND RACING REPORT.
Saturday 20th March 2010.
The latest report on Brenda is fine; we go down to the clinic in Tarifa every day to have the wound checked and the dressing changed but it is going to take another week or so for us to get the all clear. Yesterday as we arrived the Doctor was called out on an emergency and was just getting in the ambulance with the Para medics when we arrived so we had to waite for over an hour before a relief Doctor came in!
Over the last two days we have been watching the Festival meeting from Cheltenham now that the Sky system is back working; The atmosphere has been tremendous and the weather just kept fine, yesterday was the final day and was the best so far, the excitement built as it became time for the Gold Cup to start, the race did not go to plan as the favorite Kauto Star fell and then the second favorite Denman was beaten by Imperial Commander from the stables of Nigel Twiston Davies who is a local and well loved trainer, the crowds went mad ! But this was not the end, in the next race, the Christies Foxhunter Chase which is the equalivant race for amateur jockeys was won by Nigel ‘s horse and the winning jockey was his son Sam ! More scenes of jubilation followed !! He was not yet finished as in the last race his horse won again giving him a winning treble of 747-1 !!! Earlier in the day Katie Walsh,Ruby’s sister, won her second race of the Championship so the Irish went mad again. I’am out of breath !
The latest report on Brenda is fine; we go down to the clinic in Tarifa every day to have the wound checked and the dressing changed but it is going to take another week or so for us to get the all clear. Yesterday as we arrived the Doctor was called out on an emergency and was just getting in the ambulance with the Para medics when we arrived so we had to waite for over an hour before a relief Doctor came in!
Over the last two days we have been watching the Festival meeting from Cheltenham now that the Sky system is back working; The atmosphere has been tremendous and the weather just kept fine, yesterday was the final day and was the best so far, the excitement built as it became time for the Gold Cup to start, the race did not go to plan as the favorite Kauto Star fell and then the second favorite Denman was beaten by Imperial Commander from the stables of Nigel Twiston Davies who is a local and well loved trainer, the crowds went mad ! But this was not the end, in the next race, the Christies Foxhunter Chase which is the equalivant race for amateur jockeys was won by Nigel ‘s horse and the winning jockey was his son Sam ! More scenes of jubilation followed !! He was not yet finished as in the last race his horse won again giving him a winning treble of 747-1 !!! Earlier in the day Katie Walsh,Ruby’s sister, won her second race of the Championship so the Irish went mad again. I’am out of breath !
Thursday, March 18, 2010
NEWSFLASH.
Thursday 18th March 2010.
Good News and Bad News.
Just a quick update to say that the Sky system has come back on this morning better than ever so fingers crossed we will be able to watch the racing over the next two days !
The bad news is that we have not heard from Chris over in England except for a very short call last night and it does not sound very good as to when things are going to happen ! We are starting to think that we might be a bit premature in our planning !!
Good News and Bad News.
Just a quick update to say that the Sky system has come back on this morning better than ever so fingers crossed we will be able to watch the racing over the next two days !
The bad news is that we have not heard from Chris over in England except for a very short call last night and it does not sound very good as to when things are going to happen ! We are starting to think that we might be a bit premature in our planning !!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
SAINT PATRICKS DAY 17 th MARCH 2010.
Wednesday 17th March 2010.
Yesterday I went over to Manilva in the morning and dropped off a lot of clothes and shoes as well as bits and pieces at the house ready for when we move back, We can’t get everything in the Smart car in one go so I will have to do another move before we finally leave in the not to distant future! The Sky system has not come back on so we are without the large TV in the downstairs lounge, Joan’s system has not been affected but she watches all different programmes and has to have it on full blast all the time, also her flat is very warm as she has the electric fire on as well. This means that we have missed all the programmes that we have been following over the last couple of weeks.
On Tuesday afternoon we went up and watched the racing from Cheltenham 2010, the highlight on the first day was the Champion Hurdle,A.P McCoy won on “ Binocular ” and I have never seen the 14 times champion jockey so excited, he had a lot to prove and the horse which has not been running well over it’s last couple of races jumped out of his skin ! Today the Queen Mother Champion Chase was also very good when the favorite was beaten but the highlight of the day was in the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup over 4 miles, for amateur riders when the only two lady jockey’s led over the last and Katie Walsh ,who is the 25 years old sister of Ruby Walsh, beat Nina Carberry.The crowd’s went mad as it was very popular win and it showed how close the southern Irish dynasties are totally involved in it’s racing over the years, also as it was St. Patricks Day the Irish contingent went mad, again !
Brenda is feeling a lot better today, we have been every day, at different times, by appointment, to the clinic down in Tarifa to have the wound checked and the dressing changed. We then went across to Estepona to the dentists as she had an appointment later in the morning. The weather around the coast was a lot nicer than here, the sun was out and it was warm ! On the way back we stopped at the English butchers and picked up some Sausages for dinner tonight and we also treated ourselves to a Rib of Beef for Sunday lunch as it could well be our last Sunday roast,we hope! Watch this space !!
Yesterday I went over to Manilva in the morning and dropped off a lot of clothes and shoes as well as bits and pieces at the house ready for when we move back, We can’t get everything in the Smart car in one go so I will have to do another move before we finally leave in the not to distant future! The Sky system has not come back on so we are without the large TV in the downstairs lounge, Joan’s system has not been affected but she watches all different programmes and has to have it on full blast all the time, also her flat is very warm as she has the electric fire on as well. This means that we have missed all the programmes that we have been following over the last couple of weeks.
On Tuesday afternoon we went up and watched the racing from Cheltenham 2010, the highlight on the first day was the Champion Hurdle,A.P McCoy won on “ Binocular ” and I have never seen the 14 times champion jockey so excited, he had a lot to prove and the horse which has not been running well over it’s last couple of races jumped out of his skin ! Today the Queen Mother Champion Chase was also very good when the favorite was beaten but the highlight of the day was in the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup over 4 miles, for amateur riders when the only two lady jockey’s led over the last and Katie Walsh ,who is the 25 years old sister of Ruby Walsh, beat Nina Carberry.The crowd’s went mad as it was very popular win and it showed how close the southern Irish dynasties are totally involved in it’s racing over the years, also as it was St. Patricks Day the Irish contingent went mad, again !
Brenda is feeling a lot better today, we have been every day, at different times, by appointment, to the clinic down in Tarifa to have the wound checked and the dressing changed. We then went across to Estepona to the dentists as she had an appointment later in the morning. The weather around the coast was a lot nicer than here, the sun was out and it was warm ! On the way back we stopped at the English butchers and picked up some Sausages for dinner tonight and we also treated ourselves to a Rib of Beef for Sunday lunch as it could well be our last Sunday roast,we hope! Watch this space !!
Monday, March 15, 2010
NEWS UDATE AND GOOGLE MAP REVIEW.
Monday 15th March PM 2010.
This afternoon we are taking thing easy after the weekend excitements; Brenda is sat in the lounge listening to her teach you self Spanish lessons as we are preparing to move back to Manilva in the next few weeks and have got out of the habit of talking and thinking Spanish. The Sky system has not come back on since Friday so we are missing watching the TV and it looks like we will not be able to watch the Seven Ages of Britain and the Wonders of the Solar System as well as the racing from Cheltenham!
Meanwhile I have remembered a new toy to play with; Google Maps!! I’ve just been online and had forgotten what you can do, I started in Manilva and found our house and then walked down through the village to Mano and Anna”s house. I then went over to Colwyn Bay and found Tim and Thea’s house in Old Colwyn before I walked up to Rhyd-y Foel and found our old house “ Craven Cottage ” We then went over to the Wirral and found the street that Brenda was born in and in which her sister Jenny still lives. Then we headed over to Australia and found where Jack and Lyn have moved to outside Melbourne. Watch out as I could be outside your house next!!
This afternoon we are taking thing easy after the weekend excitements; Brenda is sat in the lounge listening to her teach you self Spanish lessons as we are preparing to move back to Manilva in the next few weeks and have got out of the habit of talking and thinking Spanish. The Sky system has not come back on since Friday so we are missing watching the TV and it looks like we will not be able to watch the Seven Ages of Britain and the Wonders of the Solar System as well as the racing from Cheltenham!
Meanwhile I have remembered a new toy to play with; Google Maps!! I’ve just been online and had forgotten what you can do, I started in Manilva and found our house and then walked down through the village to Mano and Anna”s house. I then went over to Colwyn Bay and found Tim and Thea’s house in Old Colwyn before I walked up to Rhyd-y Foel and found our old house “ Craven Cottage ” We then went over to the Wirral and found the street that Brenda was born in and in which her sister Jenny still lives. Then we headed over to Australia and found where Jack and Lyn have moved to outside Melbourne. Watch out as I could be outside your house next!!
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS AND HEALTH UPDATE.
Monday 15th Mrach 2010.
We have just come back from the health clinic down in Tarifa after having the dressing on Brenda’s arm changed and cleaned by the doctor, yesterday we did the same and now have appointments for the rest of the .week The clinic was very busy this morning but we went in the minute after being looked after by the clinic secretary,once again the system here works very well !
On Sunday after our visit to the clinic we went and had a coffee down on the front by the harbour,the sun was out and it was warm so we were able to sit out and watch the world go by as the ferries came and went across to Tanger as you can see in the pictures below.
The fishing fleet had just come back after an early morning trip and all the fish had already been sold !
As you can see I have changed the template of our blog page so I look forward to any comments ; there are varios different set ups so over the next few days I will try some other ones out and than settle on the best one !
We have just come back from the health clinic down in Tarifa after having the dressing on Brenda’s arm changed and cleaned by the doctor, yesterday we did the same and now have appointments for the rest of the .week The clinic was very busy this morning but we went in the minute after being looked after by the clinic secretary,once again the system here works very well !
On Sunday after our visit to the clinic we went and had a coffee down on the front by the harbour,the sun was out and it was warm so we were able to sit out and watch the world go by as the ferries came and went across to Tanger as you can see in the pictures below.
The fishing fleet had just come back after an early morning trip and all the fish had already been sold !
As you can see I have changed the template of our blog page so I look forward to any comments ; there are varios different set ups so over the next few days I will try some other ones out and than settle on the best one !
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
NEWSFLASH .
Saturday 13th March PM 2010.
This afternoon we have had a little excitement in our very quiet life hear at the villa in Tarifa; Brenda has been in hospital! She was outside on the balcony grooming Boo when the brush caught in his matted coat and he yelped and at the same time turned his head and caught Brenda on the arm, she cried out and I ran out to see blood everywhere, we wrapped it in a towel and at first I thought that it had cut a vein or artery! I called our Doctor who lives just up the road from the villa only to find out that he was skiing in the Sierra Nevada.He told me to take her to the main hospital in Algeciras, so we shot out in the Smart car, I stopped at the hotel at the top of our road and asked the manager where the hospital was as Algeciras is a very large major city; Luckily for us it is at this end of the city by the main port so with the help of a friendly taxi driver who pointed us in the right direction we went straight there.
The Hospital Comarcal Punta de Europa is a very large and modern hospital and was very busy as I dropped Brenda outside the Accident and Emergency entrance; she was seen by the reception straight away and as I arrived her number, with out waiting, came up on the screen. The first Doctor then handed us over to a nursing sister and we went into the emergency room where three more Doctors came and assessed the patient! It was not as bad as we thought and they explained what was going to happen; Brenda had to have a Tetinus injection and also an anti biotic jab in her rear! They then dressed and cleaned the wound and explained that they don’t put stitches in as they want the wound to be open in case of infection, so the dressing has to be changed and checked each day at the local medical centre down in Tarifa.Yet another doctor came and checked that everything was OK and gave us a prescription to pick up at a local chemists for some tablets to help with the pain.
The local chemists was not open as it should have been so we came back over the mountains to Tarifa and found that our regular chemists down in the old town was open,at the same time we made sure that we found the medical centre for our visits for the next seven days; she will have to have the booster jabs for the Tetinus in a months time and again in a year.
The total time that we were in the hospital was just over half an hour !!
This afternoon we have had a little excitement in our very quiet life hear at the villa in Tarifa; Brenda has been in hospital! She was outside on the balcony grooming Boo when the brush caught in his matted coat and he yelped and at the same time turned his head and caught Brenda on the arm, she cried out and I ran out to see blood everywhere, we wrapped it in a towel and at first I thought that it had cut a vein or artery! I called our Doctor who lives just up the road from the villa only to find out that he was skiing in the Sierra Nevada.He told me to take her to the main hospital in Algeciras, so we shot out in the Smart car, I stopped at the hotel at the top of our road and asked the manager where the hospital was as Algeciras is a very large major city; Luckily for us it is at this end of the city by the main port so with the help of a friendly taxi driver who pointed us in the right direction we went straight there.
The Hospital Comarcal Punta de Europa is a very large and modern hospital and was very busy as I dropped Brenda outside the Accident and Emergency entrance; she was seen by the reception straight away and as I arrived her number, with out waiting, came up on the screen. The first Doctor then handed us over to a nursing sister and we went into the emergency room where three more Doctors came and assessed the patient! It was not as bad as we thought and they explained what was going to happen; Brenda had to have a Tetinus injection and also an anti biotic jab in her rear! They then dressed and cleaned the wound and explained that they don’t put stitches in as they want the wound to be open in case of infection, so the dressing has to be changed and checked each day at the local medical centre down in Tarifa.Yet another doctor came and checked that everything was OK and gave us a prescription to pick up at a local chemists for some tablets to help with the pain.
The local chemists was not open as it should have been so we came back over the mountains to Tarifa and found that our regular chemists down in the old town was open,at the same time we made sure that we found the medical centre for our visits for the next seven days; she will have to have the booster jabs for the Tetinus in a months time and again in a year.
The total time that we were in the hospital was just over half an hour !!
CASA OLIMPIA AND COLWYN BAY NEWS UPDATE.
Saturday 13th March 2010.
Today is a beautiful day down here in Tarifa, clear blue skies and no wind with the sun out, it is a little cold by our standards, 17 degs. but we are able to leave the doors open so as the dogs can play out in the garden, Boo over the last couple of days has had a cold so Brenda has been nursing him with lots of love, Vaseline on his nose, Vic Vapour to help him breath better and Oil of Olbas on his pillow on his bed at night, to say that he is getting more looked after than me is a understatement!
Still no news from Chris in England, if he is still there, so we still don’t know when things are going to happen, we are taking some of our clothes home next week when we go over to Estepona for Brenda’s dental appointment on Wednesday as we can’t move all our things in one go in the Smart car; speaking of which the warning light is still coming on so I will have to call into the Mercedes garage as soon as possible to get it checked out.
The satellite connection is not working again so we have no TV to watch from yesterday morning; today I have missed the Bahrain GP qualifying and it looks like we will not be able to see the Rugby Internationals later or the Channel Four racing! Fingers crossed that it comes back on for the GP race tomorrow and especially for next week as it is the Cheltenham Racing Festival which is the highlight of the jump racing season.
We have just come off the phone after speaking to Thea over in Colwyn Bay, they are in the middle of having their two bathrooms refitted,Thea has sourced everything off the internet and has made a saving of over two thirds on all the fittings; last weekend they went for a night away at a Georgian country house hotel that some friends had given them as a present for looking after their daughter. The Ttddyn Llan restaurant with rooms is situated in the Vale of Ederynion outside Corwen in Llandrillo; it is part of the Welsh Rarebits private hotel group, which there are over 55 in Wales, they had a lovely stay and the food and service was very good so it is highly recommended by them and Tim said that he was thinking of us all the time he was eating !
o
Today is a beautiful day down here in Tarifa, clear blue skies and no wind with the sun out, it is a little cold by our standards, 17 degs. but we are able to leave the doors open so as the dogs can play out in the garden, Boo over the last couple of days has had a cold so Brenda has been nursing him with lots of love, Vaseline on his nose, Vic Vapour to help him breath better and Oil of Olbas on his pillow on his bed at night, to say that he is getting more looked after than me is a understatement!
Still no news from Chris in England, if he is still there, so we still don’t know when things are going to happen, we are taking some of our clothes home next week when we go over to Estepona for Brenda’s dental appointment on Wednesday as we can’t move all our things in one go in the Smart car; speaking of which the warning light is still coming on so I will have to call into the Mercedes garage as soon as possible to get it checked out.
The satellite connection is not working again so we have no TV to watch from yesterday morning; today I have missed the Bahrain GP qualifying and it looks like we will not be able to see the Rugby Internationals later or the Channel Four racing! Fingers crossed that it comes back on for the GP race tomorrow and especially for next week as it is the Cheltenham Racing Festival which is the highlight of the jump racing season.
We have just come off the phone after speaking to Thea over in Colwyn Bay, they are in the middle of having their two bathrooms refitted,Thea has sourced everything off the internet and has made a saving of over two thirds on all the fittings; last weekend they went for a night away at a Georgian country house hotel that some friends had given them as a present for looking after their daughter. The Ttddyn Llan restaurant with rooms is situated in the Vale of Ederynion outside Corwen in Llandrillo; it is part of the Welsh Rarebits private hotel group, which there are over 55 in Wales, they had a lovely stay and the food and service was very good so it is highly recommended by them and Tim said that he was thinking of us all the time he was eating !
o
TARIFA REPORT.
Saturday 13th March 2010.
In the first picture below you can see the start of the old part of Tarifa town which is built within a walled area and creates a town within a town; the second picture shows the fort overlooking the Straites of Gibraltar,in old times any ship passing had to pay a tariff,hence the name Tarifa ! The third picture is of the fast ferry leaving the old harbour on its crossing to Tanger which takes 35 mins.If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see out at sea a large Sealand Maersk container ship powering it way towards the Atlantic. The final picture taken across the fishing harbour shows the Riff Mountains on the coast of Africa, beyond them on a very clear day you can see the high Atlas range of mountains and then on the other side is the Sahara desert! These pictures were taken yesterday from the wall of the fishing harbour which is a very busy little port with all the very small blue and white fishing boats going out all together, the catch is landed and sold on the quayside and is used throughout Andalucia, unlike in England where all the catch is sold to Europe, especially the Hake which all comes to Spain were it is the national fish dish! The pictures were taken with our small digi-cam on automatic setting and I could not see anything on the screen in the bright sunlight!
In the first picture below you can see the start of the old part of Tarifa town which is built within a walled area and creates a town within a town; the second picture shows the fort overlooking the Straites of Gibraltar,in old times any ship passing had to pay a tariff,hence the name Tarifa ! The third picture is of the fast ferry leaving the old harbour on its crossing to Tanger which takes 35 mins.If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see out at sea a large Sealand Maersk container ship powering it way towards the Atlantic. The final picture taken across the fishing harbour shows the Riff Mountains on the coast of Africa, beyond them on a very clear day you can see the high Atlas range of mountains and then on the other side is the Sahara desert! These pictures were taken yesterday from the wall of the fishing harbour which is a very busy little port with all the very small blue and white fishing boats going out all together, the catch is landed and sold on the quayside and is used throughout Andalucia, unlike in England where all the catch is sold to Europe, especially the Hake which all comes to Spain were it is the national fish dish! The pictures were taken with our small digi-cam on automatic setting and I could not see anything on the screen in the bright sunlight!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA MANILVA NEWS UPDATE AND TV REVIEW.
Thursday 11th March 2010.
Yesterday we went over in the morning to Estepona as Brenda had an appointment at the dentists; the weather was dry for a change and the sun came out later but it was still a little crisp, the clear blue sky was also a pleasant change and the views across to Gibraltar on the way down the mountain from the villa were spectacular. In other parts of Spain in Barcelona and across in Majorca they have been having severe blizzards with 4 inches of snow falling, the worst weather in over 50 years! On the seven day forecast it is showing for the first time this year that we are going to have sunshine over the weekend.
On our way back we stopped at the house in Manilva as I had to photocopy some documents, Brenda meanwhile was pottering about the house as I was upstairs in the office; my mobile rang and it was Mano to say that they were up in Bar Rojas having a coffee with Brenda ! She had slipped out with the rubbish and bumped into them. When I finished I then shot up and joined them, the owners of the bar welcomed us with open arms as we caught up with all the news from Mano and Anna; Carlos, their son, who was on his day off called in and with him was Andy who lost his wife, he had with him his mother who had flown over on Wednesday evening but she had missed the funeral; they take place very quickly in Spain. We all then had a couple of drinks and toasted the life of Anna, she was only 48, and we all had a good cry as well as remembering the past.
On Tuesday we watched the first episode of “ Wonders of the Solar System ” which was entitled “ Empire of the Sun ” It is introduced by a young looking Professor,Brian Cox, and was quite spectacular; his enthusiasm and knowledge helps you to understand what he is talking about and showing you as he travels around the world; in India he went to Varanass on the bank of the Ganges to witness a total solar eclipse, he was made speechless as the huge mass of people went very quiet; he then went to the Iquazu falls in Brazil to show the power of the sun over water, they are the largest falls in the world and they just take your breath away. The next part took us to above the Artic circle in Norway to watch for his first time the Northern Lights, the “Aurora Boreals” which are caused by solar wind from the sun. Later he visited various giant telescopes around the world and ended up at one listening to the signal from the Voyager probe that was launched over thirty years ago and so far it has traveled over 14 billion kilometers, it is the size of a double Decker bus and his fascination with it was what first got him interested in philosophy. We can’t wait for the second episode !
We are still awaiting another phone call from Chris to give us more dates and details about what is going to happen to Joan, the dogs and cats and the villa over next month- watch this space !!
Yesterday we went over in the morning to Estepona as Brenda had an appointment at the dentists; the weather was dry for a change and the sun came out later but it was still a little crisp, the clear blue sky was also a pleasant change and the views across to Gibraltar on the way down the mountain from the villa were spectacular. In other parts of Spain in Barcelona and across in Majorca they have been having severe blizzards with 4 inches of snow falling, the worst weather in over 50 years! On the seven day forecast it is showing for the first time this year that we are going to have sunshine over the weekend.
On our way back we stopped at the house in Manilva as I had to photocopy some documents, Brenda meanwhile was pottering about the house as I was upstairs in the office; my mobile rang and it was Mano to say that they were up in Bar Rojas having a coffee with Brenda ! She had slipped out with the rubbish and bumped into them. When I finished I then shot up and joined them, the owners of the bar welcomed us with open arms as we caught up with all the news from Mano and Anna; Carlos, their son, who was on his day off called in and with him was Andy who lost his wife, he had with him his mother who had flown over on Wednesday evening but she had missed the funeral; they take place very quickly in Spain. We all then had a couple of drinks and toasted the life of Anna, she was only 48, and we all had a good cry as well as remembering the past.
On Tuesday we watched the first episode of “ Wonders of the Solar System ” which was entitled “ Empire of the Sun ” It is introduced by a young looking Professor,Brian Cox, and was quite spectacular; his enthusiasm and knowledge helps you to understand what he is talking about and showing you as he travels around the world; in India he went to Varanass on the bank of the Ganges to witness a total solar eclipse, he was made speechless as the huge mass of people went very quiet; he then went to the Iquazu falls in Brazil to show the power of the sun over water, they are the largest falls in the world and they just take your breath away. The next part took us to above the Artic circle in Norway to watch for his first time the Northern Lights, the “Aurora Boreals” which are caused by solar wind from the sun. Later he visited various giant telescopes around the world and ended up at one listening to the signal from the Voyager probe that was launched over thirty years ago and so far it has traveled over 14 billion kilometers, it is the size of a double Decker bus and his fascination with it was what first got him interested in philosophy. We can’t wait for the second episode !
We are still awaiting another phone call from Chris to give us more dates and details about what is going to happen to Joan, the dogs and cats and the villa over next month- watch this space !!
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA WEATHER NEWS AND TV UPDATE.
Tuesday 9th March 2010.
Well the first news is that the Sky system came back on of its own accord on Friday evening at 10-pm in the middle of yet another storm; the satellite had been knocked out and it took three days to be realigned! Over the weekend during more bad weather the electricity has also been going off and on all the time and on Monday morning we had also lost all the water pressure, which was fixed by late afternoon; this weather is now the worst in living memory down here on the Costa del Sol and the locals in Manilva just can’t believe how wet it has been, over the weekend next door to Mano and Ann where they live on the side of the hills along side the vine fields there have been landslides and some of the locals residents had to be moved out of their properties for safety reasons ! I have just come off the phone after speaking to Mano and the news is not good; two houses have collapsed and a third is in a bad condition, the family’s are all English and have been put up in the Manilvagreen Aparhotel for the moment. Today we have for the first time no wind or rain and clear blue skies across the Straite to Africa but the seven day forecast is not too good. My thought for the week is “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain " !!
""
When I was on the phone to Mano,he was just about to ring us with some very sad news to tell us that the wife of a mutual friend in Manilva had died and the mass and burial was later today in the village; Anna’s husband Andy has looked after her through a long illness and our thoughts and feelings go out to him and all the family; her mother lives in the village and her sister lives just around the corner from our house, she was very much a local girl and there will be a massive turnout from the village as she was very much loved.
The Hake in batter with chips and peas ( sadly not mushy ) on Friday was very nice as was our Minute steak and frits on Saturday, on Sunday morning we always have breakfast as we don’s sit down to our Sunday lunch ( Chicken this week ) until late afternoon; and this week we treated ourselves to Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon, tonight we are having Liver and Bacon with Saute potatoes for supper. On Saturday morning we were watching Saturday Morning Kitchen hosted by James Martin,which is very good, it has all the top chefs on and every week they have to take part in the Ouellette challenge, this week one of the film inserts was of the Celebrity Master Chef semi final and one of their tasks was to make a Pizza, so Brenda then said that she fancied one for lunch! Now normally they are not on the menu but we had some Pizza bases in the deep freeze so I then made a Sexton special; The base was smeared with Tomato Frito and herbs and the topping was diced Ham and Chorizo, sliced vine Tomatoes,baby leaf Spinach and crumbled Blue Cheese all sprinkled with a fine Olive Oil ! The result was a big hit and I’m waiting for takeaway orders to come flooding in !!
Yesterday I had to shoot across to pick up a small money transfer and took the opportunity to check out the house and pick up my tablets from the chemists, on the way back I had a engine warning light come on in the Smart car, which is a little worrying and means that we will have to go to a Mercedes garage to be hooked up to the computer,fingers crossed that it is only a service light ! Tomorrow we are going to Estepona to the dentists, we have had to cancel the last couple of appointments due to the weather and circumstances and will then make the arrangements to get the car checked. Watch this space !
Well the first news is that the Sky system came back on of its own accord on Friday evening at 10-pm in the middle of yet another storm; the satellite had been knocked out and it took three days to be realigned! Over the weekend during more bad weather the electricity has also been going off and on all the time and on Monday morning we had also lost all the water pressure, which was fixed by late afternoon; this weather is now the worst in living memory down here on the Costa del Sol and the locals in Manilva just can’t believe how wet it has been, over the weekend next door to Mano and Ann where they live on the side of the hills along side the vine fields there have been landslides and some of the locals residents had to be moved out of their properties for safety reasons ! I have just come off the phone after speaking to Mano and the news is not good; two houses have collapsed and a third is in a bad condition, the family’s are all English and have been put up in the Manilvagreen Aparhotel for the moment. Today we have for the first time no wind or rain and clear blue skies across the Straite to Africa but the seven day forecast is not too good. My thought for the week is “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain " !!
""
When I was on the phone to Mano,he was just about to ring us with some very sad news to tell us that the wife of a mutual friend in Manilva had died and the mass and burial was later today in the village; Anna’s husband Andy has looked after her through a long illness and our thoughts and feelings go out to him and all the family; her mother lives in the village and her sister lives just around the corner from our house, she was very much a local girl and there will be a massive turnout from the village as she was very much loved.
The Hake in batter with chips and peas ( sadly not mushy ) on Friday was very nice as was our Minute steak and frits on Saturday, on Sunday morning we always have breakfast as we don’s sit down to our Sunday lunch ( Chicken this week ) until late afternoon; and this week we treated ourselves to Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon, tonight we are having Liver and Bacon with Saute potatoes for supper. On Saturday morning we were watching Saturday Morning Kitchen hosted by James Martin,which is very good, it has all the top chefs on and every week they have to take part in the Ouellette challenge, this week one of the film inserts was of the Celebrity Master Chef semi final and one of their tasks was to make a Pizza, so Brenda then said that she fancied one for lunch! Now normally they are not on the menu but we had some Pizza bases in the deep freeze so I then made a Sexton special; The base was smeared with Tomato Frito and herbs and the topping was diced Ham and Chorizo, sliced vine Tomatoes,baby leaf Spinach and crumbled Blue Cheese all sprinkled with a fine Olive Oil ! The result was a big hit and I’m waiting for takeaway orders to come flooding in !!
Yesterday I had to shoot across to pick up a small money transfer and took the opportunity to check out the house and pick up my tablets from the chemists, on the way back I had a engine warning light come on in the Smart car, which is a little worrying and means that we will have to go to a Mercedes garage to be hooked up to the computer,fingers crossed that it is only a service light ! Tomorrow we are going to Estepona to the dentists, we have had to cancel the last couple of appointments due to the weather and circumstances and will then make the arrangements to get the car checked. Watch this space !
Friday, March 05, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS UPDATE FOOD FILM AND TV REVIEW.
Friday 5th.March 2010.
This week the weather has still not changed for the best, it is cloudy and overcast and the forecast for the next seven days is rain and wind, over last weekend more storms hit us and above Malaga on the main auto route to Grenada the main carriage way was washed away in a landslide down the mountain ! On Wednesday the storm hit us in the early evening and the Sky TV system was knocked out and has not come back on as I am typing the blog, we are lost without the TV, Joan’s system upstairs is still working OK but we don’t go and watch it as she likes and follows different programmes so we have missed the BBC I murder drama called Five Days which we had been watching ! It looks like we will be reading over the weekend until I sort out the problem with Sky. Out in the Mediterranean a large cruise liner on its way from Venice to Barcelona with over a thousand passengers onboard was hit by 33ft. waves and two people were killed; the pictures on the news showed the main decks being hit. This morning I had to go over to Estepona to pick up a money transfer at the Western Union office on the front and for the first time the sun was out and all the café’s had people sat outside for their morning coffee, I then came back over to the villa and picked Brenda up to go down to Tarifa to do the shopping. We still have not had any more news from Chris over in England about Joan moving back and the possible sale of the villa, its over five weeks since he first told us about his plan which was all going to happen by the end of February !!
The Loin of Pork for Sunday lunch was succulent and lasted us for a cold dinner on Monday and sandwiches on Tuesday; I made a Chicken curry for Wednesday and picked up some Liver from the English butchers this morning for next week, tonight we are having Hake fillets in batter for a change and the roast for Sunday is Chicken. Brenda as usual is going mad with the vegetable selection and of course we have lots of different potatoe dish’s with everything, meanwhile the dogs menu consists of Savory Mince and Chicken Casserole with lots of trimmings and left overs !
The film that we watched at the start of the week was a good old fashioned western featuring Robert Duvall,Kevin Costner and Annette Bening called Open Range; Michael Gambon is a ruthless rancher who shatters the peace of the two free- grazing cattlemen and the shoot out at the end is memorable ! Nothing on the sports front to report on after the excitement of the weekend so far.
I have just started to use “ Wikipedia ” and I am finding my way around the system which is very interesting, I never bothered before to use it so watch out for lots more facts about everything in the future !
This week the weather has still not changed for the best, it is cloudy and overcast and the forecast for the next seven days is rain and wind, over last weekend more storms hit us and above Malaga on the main auto route to Grenada the main carriage way was washed away in a landslide down the mountain ! On Wednesday the storm hit us in the early evening and the Sky TV system was knocked out and has not come back on as I am typing the blog, we are lost without the TV, Joan’s system upstairs is still working OK but we don’t go and watch it as she likes and follows different programmes so we have missed the BBC I murder drama called Five Days which we had been watching ! It looks like we will be reading over the weekend until I sort out the problem with Sky. Out in the Mediterranean a large cruise liner on its way from Venice to Barcelona with over a thousand passengers onboard was hit by 33ft. waves and two people were killed; the pictures on the news showed the main decks being hit. This morning I had to go over to Estepona to pick up a money transfer at the Western Union office on the front and for the first time the sun was out and all the café’s had people sat outside for their morning coffee, I then came back over to the villa and picked Brenda up to go down to Tarifa to do the shopping. We still have not had any more news from Chris over in England about Joan moving back and the possible sale of the villa, its over five weeks since he first told us about his plan which was all going to happen by the end of February !!
The Loin of Pork for Sunday lunch was succulent and lasted us for a cold dinner on Monday and sandwiches on Tuesday; I made a Chicken curry for Wednesday and picked up some Liver from the English butchers this morning for next week, tonight we are having Hake fillets in batter for a change and the roast for Sunday is Chicken. Brenda as usual is going mad with the vegetable selection and of course we have lots of different potatoe dish’s with everything, meanwhile the dogs menu consists of Savory Mince and Chicken Casserole with lots of trimmings and left overs !
The film that we watched at the start of the week was a good old fashioned western featuring Robert Duvall,Kevin Costner and Annette Bening called Open Range; Michael Gambon is a ruthless rancher who shatters the peace of the two free- grazing cattlemen and the shoot out at the end is memorable ! Nothing on the sports front to report on after the excitement of the weekend so far.
I have just started to use “ Wikipedia ” and I am finding my way around the system which is very interesting, I never bothered before to use it so watch out for lots more facts about everything in the future !
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA.
Tuesday 2nd March 2010.
We have just come off the Skype video as Jack and Lyn called from Australia, they were with some friends and were having a glass or two of Champagne and so they tried out their new PC with built in webcam! Over the weekend we had prepared for the worst as a large Atlantic storm was due to hit the coast but luckily it came in across southern Portugal and then hit north west Spain before going up through France and on towards Belgium and Germany; sadly over 100 people have been killed with falling trees, walls and so on, it reminded us of the time when we where caught in a similar Atlantic hurricane above San Sebastian at the start of our travels in the Winnebago over four years ago.
Still no news on Chris’s plans about Joan and the villa, at the end of last week we received the cash transfer and paid the water bill on Friday morning as we went down to Tarifa for the weekend shopping; fresh Salmon fillets for supper on Friday and Loin of Pork for our Sunday lunch. The two dogs are sat at my feet at the moment as the weather yet again is changing and the forecast for the rest of the week is rain! Last night we watched the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Vancouver which was spectacular; my only worry is how we will follow it in 2012 in London! On Sunday evening the final of the Ice Hockey between Canada and the USA was very exciting and went to extra time when the Americans equalized right at the end of normal time; it’s the first to score when they restart and Canada scored a wonder goal, the Canadians went mad! Back on Saturday it was the Six Nations Rugby Union in which England and Wales both lost, England played terrible near the end and gave it away to the Irish. Manchester City beat Chelsea which made Carlos and Mano very happy and Manchester Utd beat Aston Villa at Wembley in the Carling Cup final, I hope that Rooney carries on playing like he is at the moment in the World Cup in South Africa later in the year!
Once again I’m afraid that I am going to go on about another railway programme on BBCFour; The Kalka – Shimla mountain railway is in the foothills of the Himalayas and over its 96kms.it winds its way across 864 bridges and goes through 102 tunnels on its way to the old summer capital of the Raj in Shimla;it is now a Unesco World Heritage site, it was built over a hundred years ago and the people that work and use it now are fascinating, its all very British. The picture below which is not very clear shows one of the trains crossing a viaduct on its way up.
PS; Happy St.Davids Day for yesterday,the first day of Spring !
We have just come off the Skype video as Jack and Lyn called from Australia, they were with some friends and were having a glass or two of Champagne and so they tried out their new PC with built in webcam! Over the weekend we had prepared for the worst as a large Atlantic storm was due to hit the coast but luckily it came in across southern Portugal and then hit north west Spain before going up through France and on towards Belgium and Germany; sadly over 100 people have been killed with falling trees, walls and so on, it reminded us of the time when we where caught in a similar Atlantic hurricane above San Sebastian at the start of our travels in the Winnebago over four years ago.
Still no news on Chris’s plans about Joan and the villa, at the end of last week we received the cash transfer and paid the water bill on Friday morning as we went down to Tarifa for the weekend shopping; fresh Salmon fillets for supper on Friday and Loin of Pork for our Sunday lunch. The two dogs are sat at my feet at the moment as the weather yet again is changing and the forecast for the rest of the week is rain! Last night we watched the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics from Vancouver which was spectacular; my only worry is how we will follow it in 2012 in London! On Sunday evening the final of the Ice Hockey between Canada and the USA was very exciting and went to extra time when the Americans equalized right at the end of normal time; it’s the first to score when they restart and Canada scored a wonder goal, the Canadians went mad! Back on Saturday it was the Six Nations Rugby Union in which England and Wales both lost, England played terrible near the end and gave it away to the Irish. Manchester City beat Chelsea which made Carlos and Mano very happy and Manchester Utd beat Aston Villa at Wembley in the Carling Cup final, I hope that Rooney carries on playing like he is at the moment in the World Cup in South Africa later in the year!
Once again I’m afraid that I am going to go on about another railway programme on BBCFour; The Kalka – Shimla mountain railway is in the foothills of the Himalayas and over its 96kms.it winds its way across 864 bridges and goes through 102 tunnels on its way to the old summer capital of the Raj in Shimla;it is now a Unesco World Heritage site, it was built over a hundred years ago and the people that work and use it now are fascinating, its all very British. The picture below which is not very clear shows one of the trains crossing a viaduct on its way up.
PS; Happy St.Davids Day for yesterday,the first day of Spring !
Thursday, February 25, 2010
NAN'S LETTER.
Thursday 25th February 2010.
On Monday when we went over to the house in Manilva we also picked up the post, which had got wet in our post box on the wall outside, one letter was an Airletter from our very dear friend Nan Horsley,Jane from Chester mom, who we have known since before we were married over 40 years ago; it took us some time to dry out the letter and then open it along the three slits to find that much to our surprise Nan who last year had over nine eye operations and reaches the grand old age of 88 this year is still able to write in her lovely and distinctive way such a nice letter, her personality shines through and her sence of humor has not diminished over the years. It is also a miracle that she is able to write on the very thin Airletter paper any way; hearing from Nan brings back a lot of very happy memories when I went to work for her late husband Burt as resident assistant manager at the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlight on the Wirral,where I met Brenda ! Port Sunlight has featured in our lives ever since over the years, we got married in the church, Fred Mellor, our best man who was a Port Sunlight boy, funeral took place there and sadly the last time we were there was for the funeral of his dear wife Carol, our very dear friend, who died back in 2008.In more happy times we have been to weddings of friends over the years as their children grew up; in the letter Nan says that she still bumps into Curly the Dutch chef from the Bridge in the supermarket!
PS; The picture below taken this morning shows the progress on the new Wine Centre which is due to open later in the year,
On Monday when we went over to the house in Manilva we also picked up the post, which had got wet in our post box on the wall outside, one letter was an Airletter from our very dear friend Nan Horsley,Jane from Chester mom, who we have known since before we were married over 40 years ago; it took us some time to dry out the letter and then open it along the three slits to find that much to our surprise Nan who last year had over nine eye operations and reaches the grand old age of 88 this year is still able to write in her lovely and distinctive way such a nice letter, her personality shines through and her sence of humor has not diminished over the years. It is also a miracle that she is able to write on the very thin Airletter paper any way; hearing from Nan brings back a lot of very happy memories when I went to work for her late husband Burt as resident assistant manager at the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlight on the Wirral,where I met Brenda ! Port Sunlight has featured in our lives ever since over the years, we got married in the church, Fred Mellor, our best man who was a Port Sunlight boy, funeral took place there and sadly the last time we were there was for the funeral of his dear wife Carol, our very dear friend, who died back in 2008.In more happy times we have been to weddings of friends over the years as their children grew up; in the letter Nan says that she still bumps into Curly the Dutch chef from the Bridge in the supermarket!
PS; The picture below taken this morning shows the progress on the new Wine Centre which is due to open later in the year,
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA NEWS OLYMPIC AND TV UPDATE.
Wednesday 24th February 2010.
Over the weekend we have been on a severe weather warning as the storm that hit Madiera, so catastrophically on Saturday hit us on Sunday and Monday, not as bad as the sting had been taken out of it as it crossed the Atlantic! We once again got caught in the rain on Monday morning as we went over to Manilva to check out the house,pick up the tablets from the chemists and call at the Ferreteria for light bulbs, we then went down to Estepona as Brenda had another appointment at the dentists and at the same time we called into Western Union to pick up a cash transfer but with no luck as the number was wrong ! This money was to pay the water bill which is due by the end of the month, I’ve just had a call with a new number so I will have to go over in the morning to pick it up and then shoot back to Tarifa to pay it!! This weekend is when all the carnivals take place and it is also Andalucia Day on Sunday so it is like a long bank holiday weekend until Tuesday. On the way back we called into the English butchers, as you can see in the picture below of the Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie !
We have been watching the winter Olympics from Vancouver which have been very exciting, except for the Curling! Amy Williams winning a gold medal in the Skeleton Bob was terrific, the Canadian commentator got it right again when she talked about how positive she was in the interview before the start and how negative the other English girl favorite was; the Alpine events on the downhill course have been very well covered and the Ski jumping was as usual spectacular, the new sport of Ski Cross with four competitors going down, over and around a steep course in a race to the finish takes your breath away, Yesterday the Ice Dancing was unbelievable with the Canadian couple winning the gold, the only difference being that they do not show the scores individually other wise I am sure they would have done a Torvil and Dean!
On Monday the third episode of the Seven Ages of Britain was very interesting and I found on BBC3 a lovely programme about the Darjeeling mountain railway and the lives of the people that are employed and live with it all their lives; it is only 52 miles long and winds it way through the mountains and along the narrow parts it shares it route with the road, a little jem!
Over the weekend we have been on a severe weather warning as the storm that hit Madiera, so catastrophically on Saturday hit us on Sunday and Monday, not as bad as the sting had been taken out of it as it crossed the Atlantic! We once again got caught in the rain on Monday morning as we went over to Manilva to check out the house,pick up the tablets from the chemists and call at the Ferreteria for light bulbs, we then went down to Estepona as Brenda had another appointment at the dentists and at the same time we called into Western Union to pick up a cash transfer but with no luck as the number was wrong ! This money was to pay the water bill which is due by the end of the month, I’ve just had a call with a new number so I will have to go over in the morning to pick it up and then shoot back to Tarifa to pay it!! This weekend is when all the carnivals take place and it is also Andalucia Day on Sunday so it is like a long bank holiday weekend until Tuesday. On the way back we called into the English butchers, as you can see in the picture below of the Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie !
We have been watching the winter Olympics from Vancouver which have been very exciting, except for the Curling! Amy Williams winning a gold medal in the Skeleton Bob was terrific, the Canadian commentator got it right again when she talked about how positive she was in the interview before the start and how negative the other English girl favorite was; the Alpine events on the downhill course have been very well covered and the Ski jumping was as usual spectacular, the new sport of Ski Cross with four competitors going down, over and around a steep course in a race to the finish takes your breath away, Yesterday the Ice Dancing was unbelievable with the Canadian couple winning the gold, the only difference being that they do not show the scores individually other wise I am sure they would have done a Torvil and Dean!
On Monday the third episode of the Seven Ages of Britain was very interesting and I found on BBC3 a lovely programme about the Darjeeling mountain railway and the lives of the people that are employed and live with it all their lives; it is only 52 miles long and winds it way through the mountains and along the narrow parts it shares it route with the road, a little jem!
Friday, February 19, 2010
MARRIOTT'S PLAYA ANDALUZA.
Friday 19th.February 2010.
We have just arrived back at the villa after being over in Estepona today and yesterday at the Marriott’s Playa Andaluza beach resort; yesterday it was raining but today we had the first day of sunshine this year, as you can see in the pictures below! We have been helping on the sales training course for new sales executives, as we have on many occasions before, this time Colin Knowles the sales team leader and trainer looked after us exceptionally well and yesterday Alfredo did very well and today Linda Greenway did a very excellent presentation of the resort and the Marriott Ownership Offer which is a very good way for travel and holidays around the world along with their Reward points system and the Interval exchange system.Thanks and we look forward to doing some more training work in the not to distant future.
PS; The apartments which have two bedrooms are of a very high standard and the grounds and facilities are also tremendous.
We have just arrived back at the villa after being over in Estepona today and yesterday at the Marriott’s Playa Andaluza beach resort; yesterday it was raining but today we had the first day of sunshine this year, as you can see in the pictures below! We have been helping on the sales training course for new sales executives, as we have on many occasions before, this time Colin Knowles the sales team leader and trainer looked after us exceptionally well and yesterday Alfredo did very well and today Linda Greenway did a very excellent presentation of the resort and the Marriott Ownership Offer which is a very good way for travel and holidays around the world along with their Reward points system and the Interval exchange system.Thanks and we look forward to doing some more training work in the not to distant future.
PS; The apartments which have two bedrooms are of a very high standard and the grounds and facilities are also tremendous.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA.NEWS UPDATE,FILM,TV AND SPORTS UPDATE.
Tuesday 16th February 2010.
Not much news on the villa front; no transfers from England over the weekend and no contact with Chris since Thursday so we have no more information on the “ Plan ” which is now up to Plan C ! And counting down? I managed on the phone to pay the electric bill with his card at the start of last week but need cash to pay the water bill by this Friday or else we will be cut off next week – which is a bit of a joke as we have more water than we can handle due to the ongoing rain storms that are continuing to hit us on a daily basis! Only yesterday we were caught in flash floods in Estepona after we had to go over to the dentists for Brenda to get more work done, things should be finished by next Monday; the roads out of the town where closed by the fishing port and bullring, then the main road along the coast to Sabinillas was very bad with the brown water coming down from the side roads and flooding the main road; the Smart car is not best suitable to the conditions and so I have to drive very slow with the hazard lights on and then get swamped by the heavy lorries and 4 x 4s overtaking us at speed ! When we got to Sabinillas the road was closed as the underpass was flooded so the police directed us to the slip road through the town, we could not get up the road to Manilva as it was like a fast flowing river,Mano who lives near the top on the side of the hill had to go out and stop the rain from flooding their house! We in the meantime had to try and get through the town ,which was gridlocked, the slip road was like a canal and had taken all the rain water from the side roads, the first car that we saw was a Smart car in one of the side roads stuck in 2ft of water, you could not see the wheels !! I set off very slowly with a large black 4x4 behind me and managed to get along to the main road after firstly crossing what could only be described as a river near the end !!
Over the weekend we watched the six nation’s rugby as well as the start of the winter Olympics; the Wales v Scotland match was the most exciting game in the competition’s history as Wales came from behind in the last five mins. and scored 17 points to win! France beat Ireland and England just managed to beat Italy but played terrible. The men’s downhill yesterday, which is the blue riband event of the Olympics was held on a very spectacular course and was very exciting as the surprise winner was the Swiss man Didier Defago.
The roast on Sunday was Loin of Pork with herb crusted roast potatoes, cabbage with smoked bacon, mashed carrots and swede and whole green beans for a change. Today I am making a beef stew and later pancakes as it is Shrove Tuesday. Later on in the week we are having Sausages and mash; we are shopping tomorrow as we are out over in Estepona on sales training at the Marriott resort on Thursday and Friday, they e-mailed and asked us to help again to train the sales executives, they pay us in vouchers which will use later in the year as we are now taking bookings for the house in Manilva, Tim is planning a trip, Jane from Chester is making a return visit, Jeff and Annette from Kuala Lumpur are coming over in June and Norah and Jenny have an open invitation for later in the year! So make your booking soon to visit us in Sunny Manilva, we hope !
Finally over the weekend we have watched two very good films; last night “ Seven ” with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt,anything with Morgan Freeman is good, we had seen it at the cinema years ago and on Sunday night “ Apocalypto ” which we knew nothing about as it started, it an epic historical adventure tale set against the backdrop of the “ Mayan ”civilsation in South America, it is very gory from the start and it gets worse as it goes on but the tale is very gripping, no stars as the cast are all local and it has English subtitles; the big surprise it that it is written, produced and directed by Mel Gibson !! Oh and the hero wins in the end!!
Not much news on the villa front; no transfers from England over the weekend and no contact with Chris since Thursday so we have no more information on the “ Plan ” which is now up to Plan C ! And counting down? I managed on the phone to pay the electric bill with his card at the start of last week but need cash to pay the water bill by this Friday or else we will be cut off next week – which is a bit of a joke as we have more water than we can handle due to the ongoing rain storms that are continuing to hit us on a daily basis! Only yesterday we were caught in flash floods in Estepona after we had to go over to the dentists for Brenda to get more work done, things should be finished by next Monday; the roads out of the town where closed by the fishing port and bullring, then the main road along the coast to Sabinillas was very bad with the brown water coming down from the side roads and flooding the main road; the Smart car is not best suitable to the conditions and so I have to drive very slow with the hazard lights on and then get swamped by the heavy lorries and 4 x 4s overtaking us at speed ! When we got to Sabinillas the road was closed as the underpass was flooded so the police directed us to the slip road through the town, we could not get up the road to Manilva as it was like a fast flowing river,Mano who lives near the top on the side of the hill had to go out and stop the rain from flooding their house! We in the meantime had to try and get through the town ,which was gridlocked, the slip road was like a canal and had taken all the rain water from the side roads, the first car that we saw was a Smart car in one of the side roads stuck in 2ft of water, you could not see the wheels !! I set off very slowly with a large black 4x4 behind me and managed to get along to the main road after firstly crossing what could only be described as a river near the end !!
Over the weekend we watched the six nation’s rugby as well as the start of the winter Olympics; the Wales v Scotland match was the most exciting game in the competition’s history as Wales came from behind in the last five mins. and scored 17 points to win! France beat Ireland and England just managed to beat Italy but played terrible. The men’s downhill yesterday, which is the blue riband event of the Olympics was held on a very spectacular course and was very exciting as the surprise winner was the Swiss man Didier Defago.
The roast on Sunday was Loin of Pork with herb crusted roast potatoes, cabbage with smoked bacon, mashed carrots and swede and whole green beans for a change. Today I am making a beef stew and later pancakes as it is Shrove Tuesday. Later on in the week we are having Sausages and mash; we are shopping tomorrow as we are out over in Estepona on sales training at the Marriott resort on Thursday and Friday, they e-mailed and asked us to help again to train the sales executives, they pay us in vouchers which will use later in the year as we are now taking bookings for the house in Manilva, Tim is planning a trip, Jane from Chester is making a return visit, Jeff and Annette from Kuala Lumpur are coming over in June and Norah and Jenny have an open invitation for later in the year! So make your booking soon to visit us in Sunny Manilva, we hope !
Finally over the weekend we have watched two very good films; last night “ Seven ” with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt,anything with Morgan Freeman is good, we had seen it at the cinema years ago and on Sunday night “ Apocalypto ” which we knew nothing about as it started, it an epic historical adventure tale set against the backdrop of the “ Mayan ”civilsation in South America, it is very gory from the start and it gets worse as it goes on but the tale is very gripping, no stars as the cast are all local and it has English subtitles; the big surprise it that it is written, produced and directed by Mel Gibson !! Oh and the hero wins in the end!!
Friday, February 12, 2010
E-MAILS AND FACEBOOK NEWS UPDATE.
Friday 12th February 2010.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been catching up with all the e-mails and messages on Facebook; we missed a couple of cards over Xmas,sorry ! So we have now caught up with the friends that we missed,a very good, regular customer from the Riverside at Branston,Celia Burton sent us a news e-mail, many thanks and kind regards. Another friend, Gordon who we met four years ago at the start of our travels in Le Touquet, France, when he parked his motor home next to the Winnebago and who we have kept in touch with since has just replied to my e-mail to say that he has got married to Carole in December and they are moving down to south west France to Lot et Garonne below Bordeaux to a house that they bought last year and are going to live the good life on their nine acres eventually with the dogs, chickens and horses ! We wish them both all the very best in their new life together and also hope that our paths cross in the not to distant future. Meanwhile on Facebook we have had a lot of friends requests; many thanks to Nigel Roberts over in Llandudno who was a very good customer during the days of the Seventy Degrees in Colwyn Bay, he has followed our travels on the blog and now we are going to keep in touch on Facebook,kind fraternal regards to him and his family. At the same time we had some new friend requests all from Burton on Trent, we have kept in contact with all the staff and now we are joined on Facebook to Matt Peace,Amy McAllister,Julie Morley, Andrea Pilkington,Hannah Tipping,Karen Blair,Craig Sinclair and Amy Reeves ! It is very interesting to see how their lives have evolved over the last few years and we wish them all the very best for the future and many thanks for their hard work over the years at the Riverside.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been catching up with all the e-mails and messages on Facebook; we missed a couple of cards over Xmas,sorry ! So we have now caught up with the friends that we missed,a very good, regular customer from the Riverside at Branston,Celia Burton sent us a news e-mail, many thanks and kind regards. Another friend, Gordon who we met four years ago at the start of our travels in Le Touquet, France, when he parked his motor home next to the Winnebago and who we have kept in touch with since has just replied to my e-mail to say that he has got married to Carole in December and they are moving down to south west France to Lot et Garonne below Bordeaux to a house that they bought last year and are going to live the good life on their nine acres eventually with the dogs, chickens and horses ! We wish them both all the very best in their new life together and also hope that our paths cross in the not to distant future. Meanwhile on Facebook we have had a lot of friends requests; many thanks to Nigel Roberts over in Llandudno who was a very good customer during the days of the Seventy Degrees in Colwyn Bay, he has followed our travels on the blog and now we are going to keep in touch on Facebook,kind fraternal regards to him and his family. At the same time we had some new friend requests all from Burton on Trent, we have kept in contact with all the staff and now we are joined on Facebook to Matt Peace,Amy McAllister,Julie Morley, Andrea Pilkington,Hannah Tipping,Karen Blair,Craig Sinclair and Amy Reeves ! It is very interesting to see how their lives have evolved over the last few years and we wish them all the very best for the future and many thanks for their hard work over the years at the Riverside.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA AND KUALA LUMPUR
Tuesday 9th February. 2010.
Well it’s been another quiet weekend down here in Tarifa and the sun has also been out for a change. On Friday we had fish pie for supper, last time we had it I made another one and put it in the deep freeze! Over the weekend I watched the rugby, the Six Nations and England beat Wales, and I cheer for Wales! Also Liverpool beat Everton and I cheer for Everton!! On Sunday we had a nice Roast Chicken for lunch with all the trimmings and then settled down to watch Dancing on Ice which is Joan’s favorite at the moment as well as Pop stars to Operastars on a Friday. Sunday evening late on I watched the Superbowl from Miami,my team the New Orleans Saints who have not been in the final for over 42 years beat the favorites the Indianapolis Colts in a very exciting match, the Saints played an audacious gamble by taking a short kick off and retaining the ball, then went on to score a touch down and then right at the end of the game they made a 74 yard interception and scored again, this time I was cheering for the right team ! Last night we watched the Seven Ages of Britain which was once again terrific and it showed a gold crown that was incrusted with all sorts of gem stones and was worn by the Queen of Richard 11 back in the 14 century; it is in a secure volt in a museum in Munich and it is rarely seen in public and is the only surviving medieval crown.
PS; We have just come off the Skype video phone and have seen and spoken to Jeff and Annette in Kuala Lumpur.Jeff had just arrived back from a business trip to Singapore and earlier Annette had shown us around their apartment on the 24th floor with their remote video cam! This weekend is her 50th birthday and they have friends coming over,Jeff celebrated his 50th back in Australia before Xmas. Happy birthday to you Annette we hope that you have a “ Helluva ” day !!
Well it’s been another quiet weekend down here in Tarifa and the sun has also been out for a change. On Friday we had fish pie for supper, last time we had it I made another one and put it in the deep freeze! Over the weekend I watched the rugby, the Six Nations and England beat Wales, and I cheer for Wales! Also Liverpool beat Everton and I cheer for Everton!! On Sunday we had a nice Roast Chicken for lunch with all the trimmings and then settled down to watch Dancing on Ice which is Joan’s favorite at the moment as well as Pop stars to Operastars on a Friday. Sunday evening late on I watched the Superbowl from Miami,my team the New Orleans Saints who have not been in the final for over 42 years beat the favorites the Indianapolis Colts in a very exciting match, the Saints played an audacious gamble by taking a short kick off and retaining the ball, then went on to score a touch down and then right at the end of the game they made a 74 yard interception and scored again, this time I was cheering for the right team ! Last night we watched the Seven Ages of Britain which was once again terrific and it showed a gold crown that was incrusted with all sorts of gem stones and was worn by the Queen of Richard 11 back in the 14 century; it is in a secure volt in a museum in Munich and it is rarely seen in public and is the only surviving medieval crown.
PS; We have just come off the Skype video phone and have seen and spoken to Jeff and Annette in Kuala Lumpur.Jeff had just arrived back from a business trip to Singapore and earlier Annette had shown us around their apartment on the 24th floor with their remote video cam! This weekend is her 50th birthday and they have friends coming over,Jeff celebrated his 50th back in Australia before Xmas. Happy birthday to you Annette we hope that you have a “ Helluva ” day !!
Saturday, February 06, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA.
Saturday 6th February 2010.
Over the last few days the weather has improved; the sun is out and the temperature has risen to over 20 degs.during the day so we have the doors open and the dogs are out all the time, yesterday after coming back from shopping down in Tarifa we washed the Smart car for the first time in ages, as you can see in the picture above! On Thursday we went across to see Vidal and Gissy,we have not caught up with them since November and in the meantime Vidal went over Xmas to Peru and then on to Trinidad to see his mother and family;Gissy also cut,coloured and styled Brenda’s hair as you can see in the other picture below. My hair which is now below my shoulders also has a light trim! It turned out to be rather lucky trip over to Estepona as in the morning as we got up Brenda broke a tooth so we called into the dentists and she was able to get it looked after and fixed by the afternoon on our way back, also I picked up a money transfer from Western Union to keep us going over next week! We have had no more news from Chris over in England about “ Plan A ”so far so watch this space.
Last weekend on Saturday 30th January the night turned into day as the full moon was huge; the moon was the biggest in 133 years as it was height in the sky and closest to Earth, nobody alive today will have ever seen the moon so big and bright! I could not get a good picture to blog as our digi-cam is only a basic one, sorry!
We are watching the TV and catching up with a lot of old series that we never had the time to watch in our past life; Inspector Morse,Midsomer Murders,Heartbeat,The Darling Buds of May,Frost,to name but just a few! Over the last couple of weeks I have been watching Ballykissangel and was very shocked yesterday when Assumpta was electrocuted in the pub cellar after Father Peter had just told her that he loved her!! The BBC as usual has just started to show the new David Dimbleby program “ Seven Ages of Britain ” which is very interesting and very well researched and of course we watch QI with Steven Fry all the time. During the last few weeks Michel Portillo has been on Great Railway journeys around the UK, which as a young boy I spent all my time trainspotting,traveling all over Europe on trains and in my bedroom my bed was in the middle of a very large model railway system !
PS; We have just come off the Skype video phone to Jack and Lyn in Australia and we are going to try and contact Lyn;s son Jeff and his wfe Annette in Kuala Lumpur !
Over the last few days the weather has improved; the sun is out and the temperature has risen to over 20 degs.during the day so we have the doors open and the dogs are out all the time, yesterday after coming back from shopping down in Tarifa we washed the Smart car for the first time in ages, as you can see in the picture above! On Thursday we went across to see Vidal and Gissy,we have not caught up with them since November and in the meantime Vidal went over Xmas to Peru and then on to Trinidad to see his mother and family;Gissy also cut,coloured and styled Brenda’s hair as you can see in the other picture below. My hair which is now below my shoulders also has a light trim! It turned out to be rather lucky trip over to Estepona as in the morning as we got up Brenda broke a tooth so we called into the dentists and she was able to get it looked after and fixed by the afternoon on our way back, also I picked up a money transfer from Western Union to keep us going over next week! We have had no more news from Chris over in England about “ Plan A ”so far so watch this space.
Last weekend on Saturday 30th January the night turned into day as the full moon was huge; the moon was the biggest in 133 years as it was height in the sky and closest to Earth, nobody alive today will have ever seen the moon so big and bright! I could not get a good picture to blog as our digi-cam is only a basic one, sorry!
We are watching the TV and catching up with a lot of old series that we never had the time to watch in our past life; Inspector Morse,Midsomer Murders,Heartbeat,The Darling Buds of May,Frost,to name but just a few! Over the last couple of weeks I have been watching Ballykissangel and was very shocked yesterday when Assumpta was electrocuted in the pub cellar after Father Peter had just told her that he loved her!! The BBC as usual has just started to show the new David Dimbleby program “ Seven Ages of Britain ” which is very interesting and very well researched and of course we watch QI with Steven Fry all the time. During the last few weeks Michel Portillo has been on Great Railway journeys around the UK, which as a young boy I spent all my time trainspotting,traveling all over Europe on trains and in my bedroom my bed was in the middle of a very large model railway system !
PS; We have just come off the Skype video phone to Jack and Lyn in Australia and we are going to try and contact Lyn;s son Jeff and his wfe Annette in Kuala Lumpur !
Friday, February 05, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
CASA OLIMPIA.
Monday 1st February 2010.
New month and a new start to our on going saga down here in Tarifa; over the last three weeks of January when we have not been online life in the villa has yet again been interesting and difficult at the same time,we have had very little contact from Chris over in England and the transfers arriving by Money gram and Western Union have been small and infrequent to say the least! The weather has picked up but we are still having very severe rain storms which last for two or three days at a time, the last one gave us a problem as two of the main contact breakers
on the fuse board burnt out and we had no electricity upstairs when we got up in the morning,Mano arranged for Juan to come over later in the day and he managed to fix the fuse board by installing new ones after a difficult re-wireing job, we were very grateful as it was a Friday and we could not get any local help. Joan is keeping well and her new tablets after the doctor’s visit have helped her a lot, she is not in pain from her back problem and is sleeping longer.
Last night Chris phoned at long last to inform us of his plans, he is planning to move Joan back to England by the end of February and he is selling the villa! He has also,hopfully been making arrangements to pay our outstanding large account,so watch this space,we could be back in Manilva in March ! Fingers crossed and the rest !! It is now down to him to make everything happen, we have heard it all before but hopefully this time things will happen.In the meantime I have to pay the electricity bill with a credit card,his and also arrange to pay in cash the water bill over the next few days so tomorrow I am going over to Estepona to collect a cash transfer and to check out our house and do some shopping,later in the week we are trying to go over to see Gissy and Vidal which means that Brenda will be able to get her hair cut,it is the longest that it has ever been since we met over forty years ago!! There are still lots of problems to be resolved back at the villa,we don’t know what is going to be done about the dogs and cats,Boo is a dream and we would have him in a flash but it is just not possible as we do not have a garden and also in our contract there is a no animal clause! The two cars sat on the drive are another problem as they are now both uninsured and with no tax,so it is going to be very interesting month!
New month and a new start to our on going saga down here in Tarifa; over the last three weeks of January when we have not been online life in the villa has yet again been interesting and difficult at the same time,we have had very little contact from Chris over in England and the transfers arriving by Money gram and Western Union have been small and infrequent to say the least! The weather has picked up but we are still having very severe rain storms which last for two or three days at a time, the last one gave us a problem as two of the main contact breakers
on the fuse board burnt out and we had no electricity upstairs when we got up in the morning,Mano arranged for Juan to come over later in the day and he managed to fix the fuse board by installing new ones after a difficult re-wireing job, we were very grateful as it was a Friday and we could not get any local help. Joan is keeping well and her new tablets after the doctor’s visit have helped her a lot, she is not in pain from her back problem and is sleeping longer.
Last night Chris phoned at long last to inform us of his plans, he is planning to move Joan back to England by the end of February and he is selling the villa! He has also,hopfully been making arrangements to pay our outstanding large account,so watch this space,we could be back in Manilva in March ! Fingers crossed and the rest !! It is now down to him to make everything happen, we have heard it all before but hopefully this time things will happen.In the meantime I have to pay the electricity bill with a credit card,his and also arrange to pay in cash the water bill over the next few days so tomorrow I am going over to Estepona to collect a cash transfer and to check out our house and do some shopping,later in the week we are trying to go over to see Gissy and Vidal which means that Brenda will be able to get her hair cut,it is the longest that it has ever been since we met over forty years ago!! There are still lots of problems to be resolved back at the villa,we don’t know what is going to be done about the dogs and cats,Boo is a dream and we would have him in a flash but it is just not possible as we do not have a garden and also in our contract there is a no animal clause! The two cars sat on the drive are another problem as they are now both uninsured and with no tax,so it is going to be very interesting month!
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